Mitchell Santner, the New Zealand captain, reflected on “the small stuff” that played a crucial role in allowing India to come back from 70 for 5 to successfully pursue 181 during the second T20I in Christchurch. Had New Zealand capitalised on their favourable position, Santner noted, they “could have easily been 2-0 up as well” in the series.
Santner commented after the match, “Some small stuff that’s kind of, I wouldn’t say let us down, but it can change games quickly.” He highlighted the challenges of Christchurch, noting, “[it’s] a tough catching ground, and the wind kind of swells a little bit.” Despite the challenging conditions, Santner was clear about how pivotal moments in the field defined the match. “Especially us [at] the back end of that chase tonight. I think we were in a very good position, you know, [before] a couple of dropped catches and misfields. And that’s the winning or losing of the game.”
Four chances were missed by New Zealand fielders, starting with Jacob Duffy’s overstep in the second over, offering Abhishek Sharma a lifeline. Santner himself missed Sanju Samson at the boundary, and later, Bevon Jacobs dropped Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, followed by Naman Dhir in the 13th over.
Santner also acknowledged the impressive batting performance by Tilak Varma, who contributed an unbeaten 26-ball 51, and praised the efforts of Naman Dhir and Nitish Kumar Reddy in turning the chase around. “I think Tilak took his time a little bit today, but managed the chase very well with Reddy at the end,” Santner said. He continued to praise their contributions, “I think it was a great knock from those last three [specialist batters] tonight.”
Despite bowling second under less challenging conditions than anticipated, with less dew than the previous match, Santner noted, “I think both teams, both games, are looking to bowl first. And I guess two chases, even though tonight was a tight chase, it’s still two wins for the chasing team.”
The five-match series now moves to Wellington for the third T20I on October 27, with India holding a 2-0 lead. Santner concluded by saying, “We’ll go assess the conditions again in Wellington. [We will] see what the pitch does, see what team we’re going to go, and then go out there and try and fire some shots again at India.”
