Mitchell Santner has no problem with New Zealand being tagged the underdogs going into the semifinal of the T20 World Cup against South Africa in Kolkata. The Kiwi skipper is of the opinion that South Africa is very much “in the same boat” as New Zealand.
South Africa have been rampaging in the tournament with an unbeaten record so far barring the Afghanistan game in the group stage where they were stretched to two super overs. New Zealand in the Super Eights had to depend on luck after their game against Pakistan was washed out then they lost to England, and their qualification to the last-four depended on net run-rate.
“South Africa look like a very good outfit, as they’ve shown and I guess they’re in the same boat as us,” Santner said in the pre-match press conference at the Eden Gardens.
“Now it’s one game in here until the final you know, and it’ll be the same for India and England (in the second semifinal at Wankhede on Thursday).”
New Zealand’s only ICC titles are the World Test Championship title and the Champions Trophy victory in 2000. Moreover, this would be their fourth T20 World Cup semifinal appearance after 2007, 2016 and 2022. They have twice finished runners-up in ODI World Cup (2015 and 2019).
Santner is comfortable with the underdog tag but said that at this stage of the tournament the key is to adapt to the pressure and do well.
“We are kind of used to the tag now. It’s whether you want to call it the underdogs or not. I think for us, it’s everyone’s goal that throughout the tournament to get to the stage. We’re here now, and we back ourselves to adapt as quick as we can to what’s in front of us.”
“I think at this stage, it’s just knockout game, and that’s it at the end of the day, and whoever really turns up is going to get through,” Santner said.
Santner is aware of the Proteas batting firepower and expects his bowlers to restrict the opposition under 180. This is the same ground where India chased down 196-run target set by the West Indies.
“There’s no real hiding, or secrets about what South africa are going to bring and they probably know what we do as well. So again, it’s all up to the surface and adapting as quick as we can.
“But you know it’s not just the top order. But their middle order packs a lot of power as well.
“So, to restrict them to 180 would be a good score instead of 220, but I guess we’ll wait and see. But, yeah they have all their bases covered. That’s why they’re undefeated in this tournament,” he added.
South Africa are not known to finish well in the knockouts of ICC events. The latest being the 2024 edition of the T20 World Cup where they lost to India in a thrilling final. Santner is also aware that the Proteas pose a big threat.
“It’s the two teams that have been in and around them for a long time. I guess we know the heartbreak of South Africa two years ago.
“They’re playing some very good cricket, as they’ve shown throughout this tournament – the only unbeaten team. We’ve been playing some decent cricket as well.
“I guess it’s whoever turns up on the day, whoever, assists his conditions the best they can. We know South Africa are going to be a threat, as they’ve shown.”
“We’re just going to go there and try, put some pressure on them at different stages of the game, and they’re going to do the same for us.”
In the group stage, South Africa had registered a dominant seven-wicket win over New Zealand where Aiden Markram had smash an unbeaten 86 off 44 balls as the Protes chased down the 176-run target easily in Ahmedabad.
When asked if Markram expects a repeat of that performance. The Proteas skipper could only laugh and replied: “I wish cricket is that easy. New Zealand is a quality team. We had a good run out against them in the group stages, but yeah, both teams have played a lot of cricket since then, and it’s a completely fresh start, and it being a semifinal, is exciting as well.
“So I don’t think it’s as straightforward as just being able to repeat that again, a lot of variables in this game. We will try bring our best game to the front again.”
