Rahnuma:’260 is good, but you’ve to bowl well against them’: Santner reflects on 4th T20I win Auckland, Oct 30 (IANS) New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner reflected on his team’s performance in the fourth T20I against India at Eden Park in Auckland as he credited the batters and also the bowlers for a complete performance to defeat India for the first time in the series. Having lost all the previous three matches of the five-match series, New Zealand went hammer and tongs yet again and smashed 269/7, their highest T20I total and also the top score against India in T20Is. The destructors-in-chief with the bat were centurion Glenn Phillips and half-centurion Michael Bracewell, who put up a 115-run partnership off 40 balls for the fifth wicket. The bowlers followed them well, with Jacob Duffy picking up a four-wicket haul to restrict India to 172/9 in a big 87-run win for the Black Caps.
Speaking after the match, Santner reflected on the strong performance of the batters and the bowlers, admitting that the total was good enough but the bowling still had to be tight against an Indian batting juggernaut as the visitors had already chased down 226 in the first T20I. “Yeah, obviously, another lost toss, but I think with the wind, it didn’t dew up as much tonight. Obviously 260 is a good score, but you have to bowl well against these guys, and I think we did,” Santner said in the post-match presentation. Phillips made 107 from 49 balls, while Bracewell hit 65 from 25 deliveries as their stand in the middle overs turned out to be the difference.
The skipper highlighted how the players went hammers and tongs. “Yeah, I think we summed up the pitch. We saw a couple fly through at the start and then you stick to those lengths. The boys bashed away nicely, and we were able to take wickets at the start, which is obviously a massive thing in the powerplays. “But I think our lengths, our lines were really good tonight, and there’s obviously a little bit in the wicket. That’s kind of what we wanted for most of the games. So, I think when we get it right on a wicket that bounces nicely, it’s going good,” he added. The all-rounder reserved special praise for Bracewell, because of whom he thinks New Zealand were able to take the total beyond India’s reach. “Yeah, the way he came out from the start, obviously we were in a pretty good position, but from ball one to keep going, and that pushes that score from a 220, which is still a good score, to 260, obviously with Glenn going as well. But yeah, it’s nice to see Beast (Bracewell) get some runs because he’s been striking in the nets,” Santner said. Auckland is an unforgiving ground for the bowlers with straight boundaries pretty short. Santner was particularly happy with the bowling performance as they were able to keep India to 172/9. “Yeah, pretty happy.
It’s a tough ground. We’ve made them take some tough options down the ground off heavy lengths, and a couple went up, which was nice, and then a couple dropped catches again, but it’s tight in there, swirling. “Mine wasn’t too hard. But yeah, very happy. And I think we were able to change it up. Obviously, mixed it up in the powerplay, and guys coming in one-over spells. But being on the money straightaway and then Duff obviously nailing hard length again too to start is a great start,” he said. –IANS vm/bsk/
