Santner stars as Black Caps save series

By Kris Shannon

A masterful performance from skipper Mitchell Santner — along with yet more rain — has prevented the Black Caps from ending the year in calamitous fashion.

Santner recorded his second-best T20I figures with the ball before combining in a match-winning partnership with the bat, seeing his side edge a rain-affected third game against Bangladesh to save the series.

The year ended on a soggy note, with rain at Bay Oval curtailing the Black Caps’ chase of 110, but it could have been much gloomier.

A lamentable runout saw Finn Allen and Mark Chapman collide mid-pitch to compound the batting unit’s recent struggles, before the opener’s dismissal left New Zealand five down and needing 62 more to avoid a historic series sweep.

But Santner (18no) and Jimmy Neesham (28no) put the hosts ahead of the DLS equation, progressing to 95-5 before the rain arrived and gave the Black Caps a 17-run win.

“It got quite tight at the end,” Santner said. “Their bowlers have bowled extremely well in the series, and they put us under some pressure again today, but it was nice to get over the line.”

That outcome seemed likely at the halfway mark after Santner had won the toss and expertly led the bowling attack. The veteran snared 4-16 to set a meagre target at a venue where, before this series, the Black Caps had averaged 187 in competed T20s.

But despite the pitch containing no obvious demons, the home side continued their recent propensity to shed wickets at regular intervals.

Tim Seifert — whose quickfire 43 in the abandoned second game was the Black Caps’ best knock of the series — fell for one in the second over to spark an unseemly trend.

Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips and Chapman each matched the opener’s score, leaving Allen (38 off 31) to play a lone hand after he and Chapman ran into each other to reduce New Zealand to 38-4 in the seventh over.

Santner said his side perhaps erred in attempting to attack standout offspinner Mahedi Hasan (2-18), while Shoriful Islam (2-17) again showed that Bangladesh’s seamers could thrive in foreign conditions.

It was fortunate, then, the Black Caps’ target had been rendered so achievable by Santner’s efforts with the ball.

The stand-in captain constantly varied his pace and outfoxed the opposing batters with flight, combining with Ish Sodhi (0-16 from four) to build an intolerable level of pressure.

But Santner deferred praise to the seam attack that put Bangladesh on the back foot through the powerplay, as Tim Southee, Adam Milne and Ben Sears each picked up a pair of wickets.

No batter reached 20 as the tourists were bowled out in the 20th over for the lowest total in a T20 international at Bay Oval.

“One-ten was a very good effort on a pretty good wicket,” Santner said. “The first goal was to get wickets in the powerplay and we managed to do that, which makes my and Ish’s job a bit easer through the middle.”

The performance of Sears in particular was a huge positive to end the year. The 25-year-old was playing at home for the first time this series and reached speeds approaching 150kph, offering another genuine pace option alongside Milne and Lockie Ferguson.

“His ability to hit a hard length at speed is very good in these conditions,” Santner said. “He bowled pretty well into the wind, which was challenging, and he can bowl some rockets downwind as well.

“Throughout the series he’s been very good. He looks to be getting better and better.”

That progression will next be seen in a five-match T20 series against Pakistan, starting at Eden Park on January 12.

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission