New Zealand dominates the Netherlands for their second straight victory
Dutch outclassed New Zealand by 99 runs, giving them exceptional all-around strength thanks to Santner and Ravindra.
Kane Williamson stepped into the field for a pitch-peep just before the toss in the blazing heat of Hyderabad. The sparse crowd broke out in hysterics, yelling loudly to get the former Sunrisers Hyderabad captain’s attention. Their day was made when Williamson waved back in appreciation.
The talk at the time was whether the injured captain would play in the game. No, he didn’t. But that didn’t seem to matter to New Zealand, who easily defeated the Netherlands by a score of 99 runs, driven by Mitchell Santner’s all-around heroics.
With two crushing victories in as many games, optimism that they will advance further than they did in the previous two rounds is rising. It is not just a dream. As a result, even without Williamson and seamer Tim Southee, they are growing stronger by the day.
Lockie Ferguson, their middle-overs enforcer and death-overs destroyer, made a comeback against the Dutch. After recovering from a pain that had forced him to sit out the match against England, he displayed his typical bark and bite. Ferguson appeared the most penetrative of New Zealand’s seamers, slamming the deck as hard as he could, despite not picking up a wicket. To the horror of the Dutch batsmen, he primarily curved the ball into the right-hander but occasionally made it seam away. They started flinging the bat at him while crease-tied after being defeated repeatedly. They were then defeated for pace.
The Kiwi pace firm appears menacing even without Southee. Matt Henry hustled them with extra bounce and speed and bowled the left-handed Vikramjit Singh with a cracker after Trent Boult swung the new ball both ways. Even if Southee is totally fit, his position would not be secure. Given their talent and experience, was there ever any question as to the effectiveness of this attack?
The spinners’ shape would have been of greater immediate significance. Rachin Ravindra is more of a batsman than a bowler, despite the claims of his Wellington coaches, who insist that he is a more natural bowler than a batsman. Ish Sodhi is the lone specialist; Mitchell Santner is the usual utilitarian bowler-batsman. They both bowl with an emphasis on saving runs rather than getting wickets, which is a traditional economy-over-strike rate strategy. Both lack striking variations. Santner uses an undisguised arm ball with the typical left-arm orthodox spinner’s away-spinner (only pay attention to the arm speed and release). The carrom ball he dubbed “crack” is no longer frequently seen.
However, he performs his duties, maintains precise lengths, switches up the tempo, keeps the batsman firmly in the crease, and on pitches with a tiny bit of assistance, might make the ball grip the surface. Later, when discussing his technique, he would say, “You could be a bit more aggressive on some tracks with a little more guidance, especially with the field settings. For the most part, I was wearing a mid-on. The lines were also more aggressive than they would have been at home. It involves adjustment.
In the ninth over of his first stint, Santner successfully induced a lot of sidespin. He would spin a couple of times away from Max O’Dowd, a New Zealander, before ripping in the quicker arm ball, earning the first of his five wickets. O’Dowd just planted his front foot, and it was correctly determined that he was leg before wicket. Deception is not a simple thing to perform.
However, Santner lost his renowned control after that, sometimes erring on the short side, and before the wicket flurry at the end, his overall economy rate rose to 4.86. He gave up 5.9 runs per over on Monday, but he would take a five-wicket haul any day. In addition, he had maintained his composure against a determined England (2/37 in 10 overs).
Rachin’s insight
But Ravindra bowled sparingly and applied pressure from the other end, acting like a comrade sticking up for someone under pressure. Compared to Santner, he is far faster (and flatter), and gets more skid but less side-spin. He made mistakes against England, giving up 76 runs in his 10 overs, but against the Dutch, he conceded 30 fewer runs.
The two gave the group an absurd balance. In two innings while batting at No. 3, Ravindra has scored a hundred and a half, bowled 10 overs in both contests and claimed two wickets. In addition to scoring a rope-a-dope 17-ball 36 not out that included two sixes off the final two balls, Santner has taken seven wickets in two games. One delivers death-over ballast, while the other breathes top-order steadiness. Santner adds that Williamson would not hesitate to make his return and would immediately surround them with a shield of invincibility.
