New Zealand batter Daryl Mitchell is confident that the Kiwis will use their vast knowledge of Indian conditions to good effect in the ICC T20 World Cup semi-final against South Africa. Mitchell Santner’s team play the first semi-final of the tournament against the undefeated Proteas on Wednesday, March 4.
Speaking ahead of the knockout game, Mitchell said that the Kiwis were not making the contest bigger than it needed to be. New Zealand spent a month in India before the T20 World Cup and are well aware of the conditions, owing to strong cricketing ties between the two nations.
“We’re pretty clear how we want to operate as Black Caps and that’s both on and off the field. We don’t make things bigger than what they are,” Mitchell told New Zealand Cricket on Monday. “But we’re also very excited to be in this position and know how lucky we are to be here in a semi-final,” said Mitchell.
“We’ve spent a bit of time here in India in the last two months and I guess we know what conditions we’ll be coming up against,” he added.
BLACKCAPS READY FOR INDIAN CHALLENGE
New Zealand briefly returned from Sri Lanka — where they played a handful of matches on markedly different surfaces — before refocusing on the Indian challenge. The team sneaked into the semi-final spots after Pakistan failed to restrict Sri Lanka to 147 runs in their final Super 8 match.
“It’ll be different to what we’ve experienced in the last fortnight in Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan surfaces were a lot slower and a lot lower, and it got quite difficult towards the back end of innings,” Mitchell explained. “But I think the guys will trust the preparation that we’ve had over the last few months and just look forward to getting stuck in.”
That preparation, he emphasised, feeds into a broader team philosophy: winning the small moments.
“Trying to win little moments is something that we constantly speak about and hopefully that means we’re heading off to a final in a few days’ time,” he said.
Standing in New Zealand’s way are South Africa — unbeaten in the tournament and fresh from defeating the Kiwis by seven wickets in the group stage.
Mitchell offered no illusions about the scale of the task.
“They’ve been one of the best teams in the competition for a reason, and they are where they are,” he said. “So we’re really excited to take them on, even here in Kolkata in the semi-final of the World Cup.”
At Eden Gardens, where a full house is expected, Mitchell acknowledged the occasion without inflating it.
“For me, it’s just going to be really cool to get into a full crowd at Eden Gardens. It’s always pretty special,” he concluded.
The semi-final between New Zealand and South Africa will be played on March 4, at the Eden Gardens at 7 pm IST.
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