Upper Clutha’s Stu and Sarah Jamieson started the Farmers versus Tradies annual cricket match to encourage farmers to get off-farm more often. Video / ODT
India, according to Mitchell Santner and anyone else watching this World Cup, are looking pretty tough to beat. But the same could be said of the Black Caps.
On Sunday night, the only two unbeaten teams at the tournament face off in Dharamshala, where Santner’s side know awin will almost seal another semifinal berth.
The allrounder showcased all of his abilities in the Black Caps’ clinical victory over Afghanistan on Thursday, sharing in a handy closing stand with the bat before taking 3-39 with the ball and snagging a catch-of-the-tournament contender in the field.
Santner surpassed 100 ODI wickets during the match — becoming the second New Zealand spinner after Daniel Vettori (297) to reach that mark — and took his tally to a tournament-leading 11 scalps.
His left-arm fingerspin has proven invaluable on all surfaces and now it faces the ultimate test: India in their own conditions.
The hosts are the only team to impress more than the Black Caps midway through the group stage. While New Zealand have taken down one fellow contender in their four victories, India crushed both Australia and Pakistan to complement wins over Afghanistan and Bangladesh.
Such a start has only cemented their favouritism to repeat the feat of 2011 and claim the ODI crown at home. But Santner is buoyed by a pitch expected to suit his side’s balanced attack — and the knowledge defeat will be far from fatal for the table-toppers.
“It’s nice to be in this position to lead into this game, but we know it’s such a long tournament and one loss isn’t going to hurt you,” he said. “We know they’re going to be a challenge at home. They look pretty tough to beat.
“We’ll have to do our assessment in Dharamshala — see what the wicket’s going to do. There has been a little pace and bounce, but whether that is the case when we play them, we’ll see.
Mitchell Santner took his 100th ODI wicket against Afghanistan. Photo / Photosport
“We know they’re playing some very good cricket. I think the powerplay with the ball is going to be very important, the way Rohit [Sharma] is getting them off to a flyer. So we have to do similar stuff to what we’re doing, chip away, build pressure, do our thing.”
Their thing has so far been potent, particularly with the ball. The Black Caps have picked up 38 of a possible 40 wickets — losing only 16 of their own — while sharing the spoils among their four frontline bowlers.
Trent Boult and Matt Henry strike early to prevent fast starts, Santner and Lockie Ferguson alternate turn with express pace, then Rachin Ravindra and Glenn Phillips chip in to break partnerships.
“The guys up front do an exceptional job in getting that run rate up, and then it makes them want to play bigger shots against the middle,” Santner said.
“That middle phase, the key is to try to take wickets. It’s nice for me when [Ferguson] is bowling 150 at the other end because they might try to take me on a bit more and not face that.
“His role in the middle is to be aggressive and take wickets. And on a day if he is potentially going for runs, it might be more my job to hold it. And then flipping and adapting depending on the surfaces.”
Yet to play in Dharamshala, the Black Caps will soon be well acquainted with that surface, following India with an encounter against Australia next Saturday.
“There’s no real easy games but we go India, Australia in a row and we want to just play our way,” Santner said. “What we’ve done well through this tournament is being able to adapt to different conditions.
“Every pitch we’ve played on has been slightly different, so we have to treat it very similarly leading into the game against India — assess the conditions, see what’s going to work the best with ball, with the bat, build those partnerships and try to take them deep and see what happens.”
Kris Shannon has been a sports journalist since 2011 and covers a variety of codes for the Herald. Reporting on Grant Elliott’s six at Eden Park in 2015 was a career highlight.
