"Didn't bowl my best but happy to get rewards": NZ's Mitchell Santner on victory against Netherlands
Oct 09, 2023
Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], October 9 : Despite registering a thumping 99-run victory over Netherlands, New Zealand star spinner Mitchell Santner admitted his performance against the Dutch was not the best however he is pleased with the reward.
Santner was awarded the Player of the Match for his excellent figures of 5/59 and quickfire cameo of 36* off 17 balls. Santner became the first spinner to take a five-wicket haul for New Zealand at the men's ODI World Cup.
"Not too bad, credit to the boys upfront with the bat, they gave us a nice platform. There was a bit of a hole in the middle but we did well to get past 320. It skidded a bit under lights but we contained them and bowled well," Santner said during a post-match presentation.
It was nice tonight, got a lot of purchases, didn't bowl my best tonight but happy to get the rewards. We hung in and picked wickets in partnerships, we managed to take wickets like we did against England to slow them down. Today it was slower, held on the pitch and their spinners bowled really well too," said the New Zealand spinner.
New Zealand enjoyed their second consecutive victory in the ongoing World Cup as spinners orchestrated Netherlands downfall to clinch a comfortable 99-run victory at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Monday.
The Netherlands lost wickets at regular intervals with Mitchell Santner leading the charge with the ball. His bewitching spell made it hard for the Dutch batters to survive on the pitch. Netherlands fell 99 runs short of New Zealand's lofty total of 322/7 in Hyderabad.
The Dutch batted well on occasions but couldn't click as a unit. Colin Ackermann scored the highest for the Dutch with an outstanding 69 off 73 while Scott Edwards (30) and Sybrand Engelbrecht (29) contributed from the other end.
On the other hand, Will Young was New Zealand's top-scorer with 70 while Rachin Ravindra (51), Tom Latham (53) and Daryl Mitchell (48) also contributed.
