Daryl Mitchell and Jimmy Neesham of New Zealand interact during the ICC Men's T20 World Cup semi-final match between England and New Zealand. Photo / Photosport.co.nz
Daryl Mitchell and Jimmy Neesham of New Zealand interact during the ICC Men's T20 World Cup semi-final match between England and New Zealand. Photo / Photosport.co.nz
If the Black Caps are celebrating another world title tomorrow morning, they'll have some unlikely heroes to thank.
Before the Twenty20 World Cup began, Daryl Mitchell wasn't supposed to be opening, and Adam Milne was the squad's 16th man, spending time with the team but unable to play.
And, asrecently as two days ago, Tim Seifert was resigned to spending the World Cup final running the drinks.
In a tournament that's produced a surprising final – Black Caps coach Gary Stead suspects not many people predicted a New Zealand and Australia showdown – the Black Caps are preparing to play the finale with a lineup that they would never had anticipated using a month ago.
Injuries are what caused the changes – early niggles in warm-up games gave Mitchell an opportunity at the top of the order that he never relinquished, while Lockie Ferguson's injury before the first game gave Milne his chance.
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson (l) alongside Tim Seifert during the New Zealand nets session prior to the ICC Men's T20 World Cup final. Photo / Photosport.co.nz
Now, Devon Conway's self-enforced hand injury is set to give Seifert a reprieve after he was dropped for Milne following the Black Caps' opening defeat against Pakistan.
Stead says Conway's injury has provided an opportunity for an unlikely hero to step up, and indicated Seifert will likely be the man to grab the wicketkeeping gloves, and a golden opportunity.
"Devon's truly gutted, he's certainly remorseful – it's an honest mistake he's made and he knows it's having an impact on our team as well," explained Stead.
"That will provide an opportunity for someone else to come into the side and to step up on the biggest stage. Sometimes strange things happen and you find heroes in other places.
"It's likely that Tim will come into the side. Dev's been batting at four, whether we bring Glenn Phillips up one and put Seif in behind him, that's just something Kane [Williamson] and I will have to work through."
Seifert made a run-a-ball eight against Pakistan before being replaced by Milne in a reshuffle that saw an unchanged team win five consecutive games. His return would likely cause a change in strengths for the side – he is unlikely to be able to rebuild an innings the way Conway did in the semifinal win over England, but he is a smoother fit if big hitting is required in the death overs.
With his right hand heavily bandaged, Conway was still involved in training yesterday, helping Seifert with his keeping drills, just like Seifert had been helping him throughout the tournament.
"When you're one of the reserve players you're always ready to go and preparing like you're going to play. Unfortunately injuries do happen, that's just the sport, it's very unfortunate for Dev and we're gutted for him but sometimes that's sport and things like that happen," said Seifert.
"For the last few years I've been getting ready for these big events, I've had a pretty good experience heading into the competition with playing overseas and being around some big environments which has helped, especially in these conditions."
Now, after the Black Caps had their dreams shattered in the 2019 ODI World Cup final, before having dreams realised in the World Test Championship final earlier this year, it's Seifert's turn to dream big about what could happen tomorrow morning.
"I'm ready to go and very excited to hopefully be playing in the World Cup final.
Black Caps: Martin Guptill, Daryl Mitchell, Kane Williamson (c), Glenn Phillips, Tim Seifert, Jimmy Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Adam Milne, Tim Southee, Ish Sodhi, Trent Boult.
Australia: David Warner, Aaron Finch (c), Mitchell Marsh, Steve Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood.
