David Miller reveals his pick for Champions Trophy 2025 final winner – Cricket
South African middle-order batter David Miller has expressed his support for New Zealand in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 final against India, set to take place in Dubai on Sunday.
In a recent interview, Miller openly admitted his backing for the Black Caps, particularly for his friend Mitchell Santner.
“I’ll be honest with you, I think I’ll be supporting New Zealand,” Miller stated.
The camaraderie between South Africa and New Zealand has been evident over the years, but Miller’s well-wishes may also stem from shared experiences during the tournament.
Both teams faced challenging travel schedules in the lead-up to the semi-finals, making multiple trips between Pakistan and Dubai.
New Zealand played their final group-stage match against India in Dubai last Saturday before returning to Pakistan in the early hours of Monday to prepare for their semi-final.
South Africa, on the other hand, flew from Karachi to Dubai on Sunday after playing England, anticipating a semi-final in Dubai. However, after results confirmed their fixture would remain in Lahore, they flew back just 12 hours after landing in Dubai.
Reflecting on the travel, Miller admitted it was far from ideal.
“It’s only an hour-and-40-minute flight, but the fact that we had to do that was not ideal,” Miller said.
“It’s early morning, it’s after a game, and we had to fly. Then we got to Dubai at 4 p.m., and at 7:30 in the morning, we had to come back. It doesn’t make it nice. It’s not like we flew five hours and had enough time to recover and recuperate. But it was still not an ideal situation,” he added.
Despite the challenges, the left-handed batter acknowledged New Zealand as the superior side in the semi-final. He ended the match on a bittersweet note, scoring an unbeaten 100 off 67 balls, reaching his century on the last ball of the innings.
His celebration—rocking his arms back and forth—was a tribute to the recent birth of his son. However, he admitted he would have preferred a team victory over personal milestones.
“There were really good contributions, a couple of fifties up front. We had a really good foundation. Unfortunately, in the middle, we lost a couple of wickets too many,” he said.
“At the end of the day, it’s a team effort. Everyone’s trying their best out there. It would have been nice to have a rematch against India, but life is not always fair. You have to work really hard to win trophies,” he added.
The 35-year-old also pointed out that South Africa’s fate may have been sealed in the first innings. The Black Caps capitalized on better conditions after winning the toss and batting first, as the pitch provided less assistance for spin under the sun.
“It’s not easy chasing 360 [363] even if it’s a good wicket. There was no dew, so I think the wicket just deteriorated as the game went on. They spun the ball a lot more than us. They just got a little bit more purchase out of the wicket,” Miller said.
While Miller made it clear he will be supporting New Zealand, he refrained from making any bold predictions.
“They’re both incredibly good teams,” he said.
“India have shown the world how good they really are. They’ve been playing some great cricket for a number of years now, and they’ve got some seriously talented players. It’s going to be a great game,” he concluded.
