New Zealand's quiet achiever Santner makes big noise

Chennai, October 19

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Mild-mannered Mitch Santner rarely hogs the limelight in the New Zealand team but the all-rounder has made a big noise at the World Cup, taking a screamer of a catch against Afghanistan and a milestone 100th ODI wicket.

Santner’s haul of 3/39 helped the Black Caps thrash the Afghans by 149 runs and continue his side’s perfect start to the global showpiece. On the way, he became the second New Zealand spinner to reach 100 wickets in the format, following in the footsteps of his idol, Daniel Vettori. Santner has work to do to catch Vettori, who bowed out of a brilliant career with 305 ODI victims.

“Yeah, it’s obviously nice to get to that milestone,” the 31-year-old told reporters of the 100 club. “I guess I wasn’t thinking about it too much leading into the game. It’s just (about) trying to perform my role and do a job out there just like every other game. “I think I’m 200 odd wickets behind (Vettori), so it’s going to be a tough challenge to get there.”

Eye on India scalp

The Kiwis will now fly to Dharamsala for the much-anticipated game against India on Sunday.

Santner feels assessing the conditions there and countering an in-form Rohit Sharma will be vital as they eye the “tough” task of beating India at home.

“We know they’re going to obviously be a challenge at home. They look pretty tough to beat. We’ll have to do our assessment in Dharamsala — see what the wicket’s going to do. There has been a little pace and bounce,” he said.

He added: “I think powerplay with the ball is going to be very important. The way Rohit’s kind of getting them off to a flyer. And so, I think we have to do similar stuff to what we’re doing.” — Agencies