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

Scoreboard from the first one-day international at Seddon Park, Hamilton.

ENGLAND J Roy b Santner ................................................ 49 J Bairstow c Taylor b Boult ......................... 4 J Root b Munro .................................................. 71 E Morgan c Southee b Sodhi ..................... 8 B Stokes c Taylor b Santner ..................... 12 J Buttler run out ............................................... 79 M Ali c Guptill b Sodhi .................................. 28 C Woakes c and b Boult ............................... 11 D Willey not out .................................................. 11 T Curran not out ................................................. 0 Extras (1b, 4lb, 6w) ................................... 11 Total (for 8 wkts) ................................. 284 Fall: 10, 89, 104, 139, 181, 228, 253, 284.

Bowling: T Southee 10-1-48-0 (2w), T Boult 10-0-64-2 (3w), M Santner 10-0-54-2, C de Grandhomme 4-0-20-0, I Sodhi 10-0-63-2 (1w), C Munro 6-0-31-1.

NEW ZEALAND M Guptill c Stokes b Woakes ................... 13 C Munro c Buttler b Woakes ..................... 6 K Williamson c Buttler b Willey ............... 8 R Taylor st Buttler b Rashid ..................... 113 T Latham c Root b Stokes ........................ 79 H Nicholls c Roy b Curran ........................... 0 C de Grandhomme c Buttler b Stokes .............................................................................................2 M Santner not out .......................................... 45 T Southee not out .............................................. 8 Extras (5lb, 8w) ........................................... 13 Total (for 7 wkts, 49.2 overs) ...... 287 Fall: 6, 27, 27, 205, 206, 215, 244. Bowling: D Willey 6-1-26-1, C Woakes 8.2-0-47-2 (1w), T Curran 10-0-65-1 (2w), B Stokes 8-0-43-2 (2w), M Ali 5-0-30-0, A Rashid 10-0-55-1 (1w), J Root 2-0-16-0 (2w).

Result: New Zealand won by three wickets, lead five-match series 1-0.

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.’’