Spin wizard casts spell over Irish
When Mitchell Santner came on to bowl his final spell for the Black Caps in their tri-series opener against Ireland in Dublin yesterday, you wouldn’t have picked him as the game changer.
Taking the ball with 1-43 from his first six overs, it looked like Ireland had his number early on. Opening his spell bowling with the wind, Santner’s floated deliveries were easy pickings for Ireland’s Niall O’brien who tried to inspire his side with a maiden one-day international century in the triseries match.
But it was a different story late in the piece as Santner took 4-7 from his final four overs to snare a five-wicket bag and secure a 51-run Black Caps win.
‘‘I guess with the wind I floated too many up there and Niall got hold of me, but I knew once I swapped around it was going to be a bit tougher into the breeze,’’ Santner said.
‘‘I just tried to bowl quite a hard length and change the paces from there, but it was definitely the change of ends that helped me there.’’
It was just the third time the two sides have met in an ODI, with New Zealand taking a 290-run win in their last encounter in 2008. This time, the win wasn’t so easy to get.
Losing the toss and being sent in to bat, the Black Caps posted a competitive total of 289-7, with Neil Broom (79), Ross Taylor (52) and George Worker (50) all hitting the half-century mark.
Luke Ronchi, again being trialled as an opening batsman, was able to get a start but couldn’t push on as he fell to Barry Mccarthy for 37.
In response, Ireland got off to a shaky start with both openers falling for less than 20 runs, before O’brien (109) put the side in position for an unlikely win.
However, the Irish tail was unable to wag, with none of the last five batsmen scoring more than nine runs, as Santner decimated their lineup, picking up 4-7 in his final four overs to finish with 5-50.
Scott Kuggeleijn also proved to be a handful with the ball as he picked up 3-41.
The win sees the Black Caps go top of the tri-series table after the opening match between Ireland and Bangladesh was washed out.
The Black Caps’ next match is against Bangladesh tomorrow night.