David Miller bludgeoned his way to a sensational 38-ball 101 as Kings XI Punjab pulled off a dramatic six-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bangalore in their Pepsi IPL match in Mohali on Monday. Miller played one of the most breathtaking knocks in IPL history and shared an unbelievable unbeaten 130-run stand for the fourth wicket with Rajgopal Satish (27) as the hosts overhauled the imposing 191-run target with 12 balls to spare.

David Miller left Bangalore shell shocked as Punjab were struggling at 68 for four in 10 overs and 85 for 4 after 13 and not even the die-hard Punjab fans would have thought of such a result.

But the left-hander surprised one and all with his power-hitting as he struck eight fours and seven sixes. He completed his century and the win with a massive six off Chris Gayle in the last ball of the 18th over.

In last five overs, Punjab scored 99 runs as it rained sixes and fours from the blade of Miller, whose knock was fourth century of the season. It all started with 14th over when Miler was dropped twice — first by Gayle and then by Kohli — and he went on to collect 17 runs from that over bowled by Vinay Kumar. Miller was on 41 at that time.

RP Singh and Bangalore were in for a rude shock as Miller went hammer and tongs, creaming the paceman for two fours and three sixes, taking 26 runs from that over.

Those two overs changed the whole complexion of the match.

Earlier, Chris Gayle tormented the Punjab bowlers with a stroke-filled 61 and Cheteshwar Pujara entered the season with a superb 51-run knock as Bangalore scored an imposing 190 for three after invited to bat. Pujara, playing his first match of the season after recovering from a hand injury, and Gayle shared a 102-run stand for the first wicket.

Chris Gayle took just 33 balls for his knock, laced with six fours and three sixes, while Pujara scored 51 off 48 balls and helped himself with eight shots to the fence.

AB de Villers came up with a 38-run cameo off just 19 balls towards the end to propel Bangalore to a huge score.

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According to Mohammed Moosajee, South African team manager, who is also a medical doctor said, “De Villiers’ persistent lower back and left ankle problems have recurred” and “need attention because either one could rule him out of the Australia series”.

“If we don’t manage it properly, he could be out. His back and his ankle are worse than they were previously. If it wasn’t a World Cup and he wasn’t captain of the team, we would probably have made a decision to send him home earlier”.

Mohammad Moosajee confirmed both injuries have come back because of de Villiers’ workload and the “volume of cricket we played over the last three and a half months”.

AB de Villiers said, “I am enjoying the captaincy so much, it’s something I wouldn’t like to give up. Batting for the team and taking the gloves for the side, knowing the position I am playing in is better for the side and we can win more games, that gives me a lot of pleasure. If I miss out on a year at the end of my career so be it but we should win match”.

De Villiers did concede on one area, though: that he needs some breaks but cannot, and does not want to take any. “It’s something we will have to discuss. Maybe a bit of rest time here and there which is difficult because I am captain of two of the teams and I wouldn’t like to miss any Tests”.

The last four months are a good case study for what an extended workload will do to de Villiers’ fitness. He was one of the members of the South African squad who has been on tour since July and plays across all three formats. He did not miss a single match and the seriousness of his injuries show for it.

De Villiers donning the gloves was always suspected to be a problem because of what Moosajee calls his “chronic” lower back issues. But, when Mark Boucher’s career was freakishly ended – injured in South Africa’s first moments on the field in England, in a tour match at Taunton. De Villiers was the emergency replacement. He kept for all three Tests and his batting suffered and he did not score a single half-century. He also took the gloves in the one-day and T20 series and for the entire duration of the World T20.

Combined, that amount of cricket resulted in his back issue returning. “The more you play, the higher the chances are of it flaring up and then you’ve got to manage it,” Moosajee said. “That’s where the physio comes in with the treatment and this time treatment hasn’t allowed it to heal substantially”.

His current injury “generally” needs a three or four week recovery period but the exact amount of time will only be known after de Villiers has seen the specialist. Even if he is fit enough to go to Australia, he will need monitoring and the possibility of the injury recurring will always remain.

He is certain to be included in the squad to Australia and there was talk that he would make his comeback against New Zealand at home in December, but that may be fast-tracked. With Jacques Rudolph not showing any great form at No. 6, JP Duminy may be moved up the order for Tsolekile to slot at No. 7 and South Africa could go back to a six specialist batsmen strategy.

De Villiers’ home franchise, the Titans, will also have to look for a replacement and they will not have too much to choose from. He was the only international player available for them after Morne Morkel, Albie Morkel and Faf du Plessis chose to play for their IPL franchises instead. The Titans are also without quick Marchant de Lange who is still in the final stages of recovery from lower back spasms and is also unlikely to be fit for the tour to Australia.

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