South Africa find right pieces in chasing puzzle

At some point, South Africa will have to shed the past. It's a touchy subject because their past is punctuated with moments where pressure has got the better of them. Scoreboard pressure.

Batting second has historically presented South Africa with a puzzle they seemed unable to piece together, but now, with five successive T20 victories under the belt - all of them achieved in the chase - they finally have a full picture. "We've prided ourselves chasing. Most people know we've never had great success in the past but we've really turned the corner," David Miller said after victory was secured against Australia in Durban. "We are a confident batting unit. We've believe we can win from situations where you don't quite think you can. We've done it."

In India last year, JP Duminy and Farhaan Behardien did it to prop South Africa up from 95 for 3 to hunt down to 200 in the first T20. In the next match, Duminy was on hand again in search of a tiny target of 93. It's worth remembering that as Duminy - who is also South Africa's most successful T20 scorer - goes through a lean patch.

Against England last month, Chris Morris did it in a thriller in Cape Town. In the next match, AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla were dominant in an opening stand that set South Africa up for success in Johannesburg. That's also worth remembering as South Africa struggle to decide between Quinton de Kock and Amla to open the batting, having made up their minds that de Villiers should occupy at least one berth.

On Friday night, against Australia, Miller did it, scoring his first international fifty in more than a year and his first ever in T20I cricket. Given his reputation as a big-hitter, it's difficult to believe it has taken Miller this long to get to fifty in the format but "unfortunately batting in the middle order you just don't get the opportunities and you've sometimes got to go for the team", he explained. Now that he has finally broken through, South Africa have another finisher to add to their list.

"We're fortunate to be in the position with a lot of batters, with David Wiese and Chris Morris batting as well as bowling," Miller said. "Chris Morris and David Wiese - they don't just hit the ball, they've won games over the last couple of weeks. They've proved that they can finish games. It's great to know we can win games with six or seven wickets down."

Even Kyle Abbott fancies himself as a bit of a lower-order hitter after he hit the winning runs in Durban. "The boys are joking around in the change room that he [Kyle] is batting for his average lately, just wanting to get that little not out," Miller said. "But credit to him, he has been working really hard in the nets."

South Africa's lengthened line-up means they have found a way to take the pressure off even if they have some early anxiety. But that has presented a problem of it's own. It's allowed the top order to get away with the occasional blunder and that's not something South Africa want to make a habit of. "It's a great confidence booster for the top order batters but the responsibility still lies with the top six," Miller said. And once South Africa decide on who that top six is, they will know it will be up to them to make sure the past does not get repeated.