At 55-3 in a series decider, South Africa needed a partnership. Miller and Du Plessis gave them 252.

Eight years ago today, the pair turned a vulnerable position into a winning total, taking the Proteas towards 320-5 and a 40-run victory that secured the three-match series 2-1. Their fourth-wicket stand was, at the time, the highest partnership by any pair against Australia in ODI cricket.

Australia had removed Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks and Aiden Markram cheaply. With the series on the line, the hosts had an opening.

For much of the afternoon that followed, they searched for another.

Du Plessis made 125 from 114 balls, striking 15 fours and two sixes. The captain gave South Africa the innings the occasion demanded, batting deep into the closing overs and allowing the partnership to flourish.

Miller supplied the heavier blows. His 139 came from 108 deliveries, with 13 fours and four sixes, punishing an Australian attack that had enjoyed the better of the early exchanges.

Together, they took South Africa from 55-3 to 307 before Du Plessis fell. By then, the question had changed entirely. Australia’s early wickets had promised a manageable chase. Instead, they would need 321 to win the series.

Shaun Marsh answered with a century of his own, but Australia finished 40 runs short. The decider, and the series, belonged to South Africa.

There are innings remembered for their numbers and others for the circumstances in which they were played. In Hobart, Miller and Du Plessis provided both: two centuries, one enormous partnership and a series won on Australian soil.

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