Kolkata, March 4 New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner said he was delighted with his team’s dominant display in the Men’s T20 World Cup semi-final against South Africa, describing the nine-wicket win as a ‘pretty pleasing’ performance in a high-pressure contest.
Finn Allen smashed the fastest history in tournament’s history off just 33 balls as New Zealand completed the chase of 170 with 43 balls to spare and booked their ticket in the final to be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
"It was nice. I think we knew obviously how good South Africa are, and they’ve shown that throughout the tournament. So, to put on a performance like that in a crunch game is obviously pretty pleasing. I guess every time, you get shown up or you lose a game, you’re learning from it. I guess you learn when you win as well.
“So, we knew we weren’t, on or as good as we could have been during that game (in the league stage in Ahmedabad), and they played unbelievably well, especially on a wicket like that. I guess today it (the lesson) was trying to keep them under pressure for a long time.
“We obviously threw a little bit more spin at the start, which we didn’t do at Ahmedabad. But I think, if you can take wickets throughout, it’s obviously a challenge to keep going with the bat,” said Santner in the post-match presentation ceremony.
New Zealand restricted South Africa to 169/8, with Cole McConchie and Rachin Ravindra taking two wickets each. “There was always a plan for the first two overs and then it’s kind of free fall after that. I think with obviously the right-handers coming out briefly, obviously, there’s a lot of spin. We thought maybe if the ball was spinning away a bit more, it might be a bit more of a challenge, but I think even when it’s up in the slot, kind of hits it and it stays hit.
“So, it was trying to, I guess, chop and change because the wicket was pretty good. Obviously a small ground, fast outfield. So we were able to keep chipping wickets away through the middle and then Stubbsy (Stubbs) and Jansen obviously played a great, great knock to get them into 170.”
Asked on how he felt over seeing the chase from the dugout, Santner said, “It was nice to watch (the chase). I’m not gonna lie. I guess we were very happy with the 170, but you never know, I think, like wickets in the power play, there’s always a challenge, and they (the openers) kind of just went out there and played their game and took it on, which was cool to see.
“That opening partnership you get through a powerplay, no doubt, it puts you in a pretty good position. Then obviously, Finny (Allen) just carried on and, I mean, 33 balls for 100, it’s not bad at all. It’d be nice if we could (repeat this in the final). But again, it’s a different ground. We’ve been there before, obviously. I think depending on where you are, it’s red soil, black soil - there’s a lot of different factors that go in, different sized grounds.
“So I think we’ll obviously be pretty happy tonight with the win. Then we’ve got a couple more days to really think about what happens next. But it was a pretty good performance. I said before, we haven’t really played the perfect game. I know that’s always a hard or cliche thing, but we’ve been good in periods and then today I think we were pretty good all the way through," he concluded.
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