'Personal Pride' Fuels Miller's Heroics in DC's Record IPL Chase

Delhi Capitals chased down 211 with three wickets in hand at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium on Monday, registering the highest successful IPL chase in the stadium's history.

Miller played a pivotal role in the victory with a crucial 51-run knock after DC were left reeling at 14/2 and later 38/3 in the massive chase. Captain Axar Patel led the recovery with a blazing 56, while debutant Madhav Tiwari's fearless 18 off eight balls helped seal the contest late in the innings.

Speaking after the match, Miller said the motivation to finish games strongly comes from personal standards regardless of the opposition. "I think it goes beyond that. It's more just personal pride and in wanting to close out games, whichever team I play for," Miller said in a video released by IPL on X. "Yeah, obviously a good feeling to do it against them. Obviously disappointed to get out when I did, but I think Axar played so, so well."

The South African batter admitted Delhi had struggled for consistency this season and said the victory was important for restoring momentum. "And we've obviously struggled to get a couple of wins here and there. And it's nice to get another win on the belt and play for some pride and get back on winning ways. So yeah, it's a good win," he said.

"I think that's what, I suppose, experience comes in, you know, when you're sort of a tough moment, you always look back on past experiences that you've achieved and accomplished. So it gives you confidence in that situation. And obviously I've played quite a lot, so I had a couple of good knocks every now and again, and it was nice to fall back on that," he added.

Miller reserved special praise for IPL debutant Madhav Tiwari, whose late cameo shifted the momentum decisively in Delhi's favour.

Tiwari struck boundaries at crucial moments and combined with Ashutosh Sharma to collect 19 runs in the 18th over before DC completed the chase with six balls remaining. The young all-rounder also took two crucial wickets.

"So he's been working hard this season and putting in good shifts and bowling really well, and it's always nice to see the guys working hard and then getting an opportunity to do well. And there's a lot of pressure out there, not having to play for the whole season and then coming to play this. So I suppose a lot of pressure on himself, but managing to get over the line and doing that for the team was really, really good," Miller said.

Meanwhile, after this win, the Delhi Capitals are placed at seventh position with 10 points in 12 matches.

- IANS