Santner silences his critics
Conversion rates in cricket don’t always have to be about turning fifties into centuries.
On Sunday night in Hamilton, Mitchell Santner would have converted a number of New Zealand cricket fans from nonbelievers into disciples.
After being set up by a wonderful partnership between Ross Taylor and Tom Latham, Santner saw the Black Caps home by three wickets with four balls to spare in the first of five one-day internationals against England.
The left-handed allrounder smote an unbeaten 45 off 27 balls as New Zealand surpassed England’s
284-8 at Seddon Park. Santner this summer has become something of a whipping boy for Black Caps fans, but after a strong spell with the ball - 2-54 off his 10 overs - his ability to hit the white ball over the boundary under severe pressure should have won fans over.
The 26-year-old was happy to deflect the credit the way of his team-mates, as Ross Taylor and Tom Latham put on a crucial fourth-wicket partnership of 178 after NZ had slumped to 27-3 in the
10th over.
‘‘The way Tommy Latham and Ross set that up for us at the end gave us a chance to do what we did at the end there,’’ Santner said.
‘‘Being three down under the pump early - that brilliant partnership in the middle set it up for us.
‘‘We talked about we could chase tens - but it was hard to start, the new batsman incoming having to hit straight away was always going to be difficult.’’
He said Taylor advised him he could ‘‘take a few dots to get in but you could catch up later on at the end’’.
‘‘Good that he listened,’’ Taylor chimed in as the two sat side-byside at the media conference afterwards.
‘‘Wise words, eh?’’ Santner replied. ‘‘Ross and I were talking about 50 off five, if me and him could bat to the 46th [over] and go from there, just set little targets and then take it deep as we can.’’
England’s 284-8 after being sent in was seen as a par score by both sides. Joe Root provided the backbone with 71 off 75 deliveries while batting at No 6, wicketkeeper Jos Buttler made a powerful 79 from only 65 balls.
‘‘Tim and Trent at the start bowled very well,’’ Santner said.
‘‘They [England] played well through the middle, Root and Butler, they had a good second 30-over block.
‘‘We managed to get wickets enough at times to stem - the last 10 [overs], 68 [runs], a probably a bit under par these days, we see 90, 95-plus.’’
Taylor got to 113 from 116 balls before being beaten by leggie Adil Rashid and stumped by Buttler as the two teams produced a nailbiting finish. Latham made a polished 79 from 84 deliveries.
During Taylor’s innings, he went past the 7000-run mark in ODIs, becoming the third New Zealand batsman to do so after Stephen Fleming and Nathan Astle, with a superior average.
It was his 18th ODI century - the most by a NZ batsman - and his third at Seddon Park, where he averages 51.78 in one-dayers.
His knock and that of Latham set the stage for Santner, who ended the match by sending a Chris Woakes’ delivery into the stands at wide long-on and raising both arms in triumph.
‘‘I didn’t know what to do,’’ he confessed. ‘‘I don’t usually celebrate.’’