New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner praised India’s late-game batting heroics as the visitors secured a thrilling victory, taking a 2-0 lead in the five-match T20I series following a resilient fightback in Christchurch.
Mitchell Santner Reflects on Hard-Fought T20I Defeat
Following a loss to India in the second T20I, New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner hailed the opposition’s middle-order batters for their fightback while also speaking on some positives for his side despite the loss, such as half-centuries by Glenn Phillips and Bevon Jacobs after a rocky start. It was a match that truly brought the thrill T20 cricket is known for. After an early loss of three wickets, Glenn and Bevon made half-centuries to take NZ to 180/5 in 20 overs. Later during the chase, India got off to a decent start, but spinners Santner and Michael Bracewell landed India in a spot of massive bother, reducing them to 70/5. However, a quickfire 31 by Naman Dhir brought some hope back. Tilak Varma and Nitish Kumar Reddy then took back the game from the Kiwis with some stunning death-overs batting, winning the game with four wickets and one ball in hand.
Santner’s Assessment of the Match
Post-Match Insights
Speaking during the post-match presentation, Santner said, “I mean, you play a very good team. It’s always going to be like that, I think. Tilak and Naman and then obviously Reddy at the end, really played pretty well. I think if we got one more wicket there, it was kind of game over. So the way they controlled that chase and, I guess, made us make some errors at the end.”
Reflecting on his team’s comeback after India’s decent powerplay start, he said, “There is plenty going through my mind. I think obviously the way the guys started with the ball, outstanding, I think. A score like 180, if they get off to a flyer with the powerplay, it is pretty tough from there. So I thought we did pretty well to claw them back, and then obviously through the middle, Beast (Michael Bracewell) is bowling extremely well, and it was nice to get a few poles. I think, you know, a couple of no-balls, obviously no-ball wicket and stuff like that along the way, that obviously hurts you. And I think that from a skills point of view, it is been very good the last two games. It is just kind of those little moments where whether it’s in the field or kind of those little sloppy stuff that’s going to hurt us a little bit.”
Batting Performance and Injury Updates
On the knocks from Philips and Glenn after Kiwis lost three for 41 in the powerplay, he said, “Obviously GP’s done it for a long time now, and I think even Bev, they played the situation beautifully. We lost three early and then they kind of built. I think we were only 60-odd after 10, but then I think it is one of those surfaces where if you give yourself a chance, give yourself some balls, you can kind of cash in with the power of those two. I thought they played very well. And then, I mean, I blocked a couple of them, but Beast (Bracewell), you know, even 10 off two there to get us up to 180.”
Speaking on Pacer Matt Henry leaving the field for a while and any chances of the Pacers’ rotation through the remainder of the matches, he said, “I think it’s precautionary, and I think Lockie went off as well. So hopefully those guys scrub up okay. But I think with the quick turnarounds throughout the series and in the one-days, there could be a bit of rotation. I think that is just what it’s going to have to be.”
Match Summary
Coming to the match, India won the toss and elected to bowl first. They had New Zealand down 41/3 within the powerplay. Glenn Phillips (70 in 46 balls, with four boundaries and sixes each) and Bevon Jacobs (58 in 46 balls, with five fours and a six) led New Zealand’s recovery after an early top-order collapse against India after Kiwis were down 41/3 within powerplay, stitching a 116-run stand for the fourth wicket, taking NZ to 180/5 in 20 overs. Besides Arshdeep’s 2/33, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Prince Yadav and Nitish Kumar Reddy got a wicket each. While chasing 181 set by New Zealand, the world champions collapsed from 40/0 to 112/6, with Mitchell Santner’s four-fer causing havoc in the middle overs. The hope was reinstated by a quickfire 31 in 17 balls (with a four and three sixes) by Naman Dhir, and it was Tilak (51* in 26 balls, with six fours and a six) and Nitish (26* in 13 balls, with a four and a six) who took India to victory with a ball left. India is 2-0 up in the five-match series. (ANI)
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