A futile philosophical response would be 0 for 0, but practically speaking, the Netherlands came closest to being on par with New Zealand in the 47th over of the latter’s innings. With Tom Latham and Mitchell Santner at the crease and the scoreboard reading 272 for 6, it appeared Netherlands would restrict their opponents to under 300 runs for the second consecutive match in Hyderabad’s batting-friendly conditions.
At that point, Mitchell Santner assumed control with the bat. After Tom Latham had hit Paul van Meekeren for a boundary and a six, Mitchell Santner concluded the over by driving the pacer past the backward square region for a four. Later in the final over, Santner hit two sixes off Bas de Leede to end the innings at 322 for 7, which was 22 runs higher than the team’s estimated par score prior to the start of play. Santner’s 17-ball 32 was crucial not only for New Zealand to post a score that appeared to be a formality midway through their innings, but also for regaining the initiative from the Netherlands.
It is the type of role he has been expected to perform with the bat – a role with a small but significant impact. Even though he joins the team as a bowling all-rounder, he has a greater chance of becoming a hero by closing off a close game with the bat.
His primary function with the ball has been defensive. Rachin Ravindra and Devon Conway’s uninterrupted 273-run partnership overshadowed his previous performance against England, in which he took 2 for 37 from 10 overs against an aggressive batting unit. And when bowlers do play a role, they are typically second fiddle to the elite pacers, the receptacle for the aggressors. Before the Hyderabad match, the sluggish left-armer had taken only 93 wickets in 95 ODIs.
Without a reasonable doubt, however, Monday at cricket belonged to Santner, the side actor eternally. In order to produce the first international five-wicket haul by any bowler at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, he ripped through the Netherlands’ middle order while on his way to achieving the feat.
While the turn on offer was evident, the sluggish but fairly even-paced character of the surface wasn’t going to be much problem for the batters. Colin Ackermann even conceded that the Dutch batters responded effectively to his challenge. “He mixes his pace pretty well; he was a massive threat I think we played him pretty well up to a point and then we gave him a couple of soft wickets towards the back end,” according to Ackermann.
While there is reason for Ackermann to believe that some of the shot selections were subpar, this does not diminish Santner’s cunning deception. In the 35th over, as the required run rate accelerated away from Netherlands, captain Scott Edwards attacked the spinner, hitting him for a boundary and six before collecting a two with a powerful drive. With an obvious intent to attack, Santner slowed down his tempo and threw him a sloppy pitch, and he fell for the lure. Following the flighted delivery, he miscued and top-edged the ball, allowing the bowler to regain control.
“It was obviously nice to get the rewards,” Santner, who bagged only his second ODI fifer, admitted after New Zealand’s 99-run win. “I don’t think I bowled as well as I did in Ahmedabad. Probably missed a little bit more, but it was nice to keep trying to be aggressive and get wickets. I guess that’s the only way we can kind of slow the batters down in the middle of the ODI innings, is to take wickets. And I thought, as a bowling unit, we did that very well.”
Santner is the only frontline spin option in the XI, with Rachin Ravindra and Glenn Phillips providing support. Ish Sodhi has been relegated to the substitute in the team’s first two matches, both of which have been won by comfortable margins. Sodhi could play a role on spin-friendly pitches like Chennai, where New Zealand will travel next, but for the time being, Santner must maintain control.
Having primarily played the role of a container across formats, building upon the work of the attacking pacers, Santner is savoring the opportunity that lies ahead for him in spin-friendly conditions in India. Due to the fact that the majority of his cricket is played in a country that provides little assistance for spinners, Santner has had to make adjustments to suit the character of the aggressor.
“It’s obviously nice to come over here and see some spinning wickets because they’re few and far between back in New Zealand,” he said. “I guess the role in New Zealand is slightly different to here. You want to be a little bit more aggressive. You keep your slips in for longer. I try to operate with that mid-on up most of the time, only having three back, trying to make them play big shots. And if it is spinning, yeah, the role is kind of more aggressive.
“And then I think we’ll see at times throughout this tournament in some of the grounds where it might be, okay, pretty flat, it might be that defensive role for a little bit, try to get wickets through pressure. And then if it is, like tonight, if there is a little bit of spin, it might be, all right, let’s be more aggressive. Let’s throw it up and leave the slip in. And so that was nice. I think Rachin bowled extremely well as well, that kind of same mentality of always trying to get wickets through the middle.”
Santner may be an integral element of New Zealand’s setup across all formats, but his contributions as a batsman or bowler have rarely been the deciding factor in a win or loss. On Monday, he was the most expensive New Zealand bowler, but he managed to steal the spotlight for once. Rare but for all the right reasons.
