Put in to bat, New Zealand were in a spot of bother at 84 for 6 in 12.1 overs after losing four wickets in a middle-order collapse. But Santner (47 off 26) and Cole McConchie (31 ‘not out off 23) stitched a partnership to take the Kiwis to 168 for 7 in 20 overs.
New Zealand skipper Santner said that a score over 160 was “enough” on a track that offered more turn than expected. Sri Lanka faltered in the chase as part-time spinner Rachin Ravindra chipped away with four scalps to restrict the co-hosts at 107 for 8 in 20 overs in Colombo. New Zealand scripted a 61-run win and knocked Sri Lanka out of the T20 World Cup 2026.
“It was obviously a nice score there with the amount of spin with the ball. They squeezed us a lot,” Santner said at the post-match presentation.
“Of course, the batters will need to take a little responsibility at the top and you know we can’t rely on one or two batters in a game, so all the batters need to take the positive option.
“I think we lost three wickets on 84, which is never ideal, but I think the longer we could stay in, me and Cole were thinking, we’ll try to get to 140, but that kind of sets it up for the last two or three overs and I guess 160 was not bad from there,” Santner added.
Santner said while he was batting with Cole the ball spun a lot more than the both team expected. His partnership with Cole was crucial as the duo scored 70 runs off the last four overs to take New Zealand’s score past 160.
“It looked like a pretty good wicket. It probably spun more than we both thought, both teams thought.
“So I think with the big side as the spinner, you can kind of control your lengths and then you get hit to the big side with the ball spinning in like that.”
New Zealand next face England who have already qualified to the semis at the same venue on Friday. Santner expects similar kind of conditions.
“They’re outstanding, obviously. We know that. Quick turnaround for us. Again, we’ll see kind of what pitch we’re on. If we play something similar, it might be a bit of a slug-fest as well,” Santner said.
