A pointless philosophical answer would be 0 for 0, but for all practical purposes, the closest Netherlands came to being on level terms with New Zealand was around the end of the 47th over of the latter’s innings. With Tom Latham and Mitchell Santner at the crease, and the scoreboard reading 272 for 6, it seemed Netherlands were all set to restrict their opponents for under 300 for a second game in a row in the batting-friendly conditions of Hyderabad.
That’s when Mitchell Santner took charge with the bat. After Tom Latham had clubbed Paul van Meekeren for a boundary and a six, Santner ended the over by cutting the pacer past the backward square region for a four. It was later in the final over that Santner smoked a couple of sixes off Bas de Leede to end the innings on 322 for 7, 22 runs more than the par score the team had assessed before the start of play. Santner’s 17-ball 32 proved vital not only for New Zealand to mount the score that seemed like a cruise mid-way through their innings but also to wrestle the momentum back from Netherlands.
It’s the kind of role he has been expected to play with the bat – the small impact that makes a significant difference. Even though he slides into the team as a bowling all-rounder, the chances that he would be a hero is more likely with the bat, finishing off a close game.
His role with the ball has largely been defensive. The previous game against England is fine evidence of that, when he returned figures of 2 for 37 from his 10 overs against an ultra-aggressive batting team, only to have it overshadowed by the unbeaten 273-run stand between Rachin Ravindra and Devon Conway. And when bowlers do have a part to play, he is usually playing second fiddle to the star pacers, the container to the aggressors. In 95 ODIs before the Hyderabad game, the slow left-armer had picked only 93 wickets.
But Monday at the cricket, with no reasonable doubt, belonged to Santner, the side actor forever. He backed up the blitz with the bat by ripping through Netherlands’ middle order en route returning the maiden international fifer by any bowler at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.
While the turn on offer was evident, the slow but fairly even-paced nature of the surface wasn’t going to be much trouble for the batters. Colin Ackermann even admitted that the Netherlands batters countered his challenge fairly effectively. “He mixes his pace pretty well; he was a massive threat I think we played him pretty well up to a point and then we gave him a couple of soft wickets towards the back end,” Ackermann said.
While there would be reason for Ackermann to believe that some of the shot selections weren’t up to the mark, it doesn’t take away from the wily guile of Santner. In the 35th over, with the required rate racing away from Netherlands, skipper Scott Edwards took the attack to the spinner, clubbing him for a boundary and six before picking up a two with a strong heave. With the intent to attack obvious, Santner slowed down the pace and sent a loopy delivery out to tease him, and he fell for the bait. Going a little early after the flighted delivery, he miscued and top-edged the ball for the bowler to get back under it.
“It was obviously nice to get the rewards,” Santner, who bagged only his second ODI fifer, admitted after New Zealand’s 99-run win. “I don’t think I bowled as well as I did in Ahmedabad. Probably missed a little bit more, but it was nice to keep trying to be aggressive and get wickets. I guess that’s the only way we can kind of slow the batters down in the middle of the ODI innings, is to take wickets. And I thought, as a bowling unit, we did that very well.”
With Ish Sodhi spending time in the bench in the two games so far – both of which have been won by comfortable margins – Santner is the lone frontline spin option being used in the XI, with support from Rachin Ravindra and Glenn Phillips. Sodhi could have a role in the more spin-friendly tracks like that of Chennai where New Zealand is set to travel next, but for now, the onus is on Santner to keep control.
Having largely played the role of a container across formats, building upon the work of the attacking pacers, Santner is relishing the opportunity that lies ahead for him in spin-friendly conditions in India. With the majority of his cricket being played in a country that doesn’t have much assistance for the spinners, Santner has had to make certain adjustments to fit into the aggressor’s role.
“It’s obviously nice to come over here and see some spinning wickets because they’re few and far between back in New Zealand,” he said. “I guess the role in New Zealand is slightly different to here. You want to be a little bit more aggressive. You keep your slips in for longer. I try to operate with that mid-on up most of the time, only having three back, trying to make them play big shots. And if it is spinning, yeah, the role is kind of more aggressive.
“And then I think we’ll see at times throughout this tournament in some of the grounds where it might be, okay, pretty flat, it might be that defensive role for a little bit, try to get wickets through pressure. And then if it is, like tonight, if there is a little bit of spin, it might be, all right, let’s be more aggressive. Let’s throw it up and leave the slip in. And so that was nice. I think Rachin bowled extremely well as well, that kind of same mentality of always trying to get wickets through the middle.”
Santner may be an integral part of New Zealand’s set-up across all formats, but it’s rare that his role as a batter or a bowler has been the most defining factor of the team’s victory or defeat. He finished as the most expensive New Zealand bowler on Monday, but for once managed to be under the spotlight. Rare but for all good reasons.