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Santner double act underlines New Zealand's second win on the bounce in ODI World Cup
Spinner takes five wickets after cameo that got New Zealand past 300 against Netherlands.
Three maidens on the trot raised hope of a Dutch resistance till Will Young drove Ryan Klein through the line to kick off New Zealand’s innings with a sublime four. Another boundary, this time clipped off the pads, and New Zealand were off to a start that fetched them a handsome 322/7 without any of their top-order batters getting to a hundred. Three fifties were hit though, by Young, Rachin Ravindra and Tom Latham as New Zealand slowly wore down Netherlands’ defiance to build a total that ultimately proved to be 99 runs too much for them.
Netherlands didn’t give in easily though. Buoyed by a fifty from Colin Ackermann, they stopped just 21 balls short of batting their entire quota. Ackermann was a picture of calm, steadily taking his team past the 150-run mark, scoring a valiant 69 in the process and thwarting New Zealand’s attempts to shorten the game. That was the most productive phase in the Dutch innings as with Teja Nidamanaru, Ackermann added fifty runs for the fifth wicket.
The match was always going one way but New Zealand had a stranglehold before that partnership, especially when Trent Boult flicked the ball back into play to complete a fabulous catch of Bas de Leede.
Ackermann broke that first with the stand with Nidamanaru, further extending the Kiwis’ wait by way of a 40-run stand with captain Scott Edwards but once his switch hit off Mitchell Santner went straight to Matt Henry, the writing was on the wall. Next over, Santner caught and bowled Edwards that topped a match-winning haul of 5/59.
“We hung in and picked wickets in partnerships,” said Santner, who had also hit an unbeaten 17-ball 36 earlier, after the win. “We managed to take wickets like we did against England to slow them down. Today it was slower, the ball held on the pitch and their spinners bowled really well too.”
Full points are always welcome, but more reassuring must be the boosted run rate New Zealand now command thanks to two comprehensive back-to-back wins. Another checked box is the extensive batting practice the team got before facing Bangladesh on Friday.
Young and Latham scored at more than run a ball, and Ravindra once again impressed with a run-a-ball 51 on a pitch where stroke making proved to be difficult. Devon Conway picked up from where he had left against England, looking set for another long haul till Roelof van der Merwe broke the opening stand by getting Conway caught at long-on. But Ravindra didn’t let the momentum dip as he combined with Young to take New Zealand to 144. Daryl Mitchell missed out on a fifty but it was Santner’s cameo really that took New Zealand past 300.
