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Mitchell Santner and Colin Ackermann speak after the New Zealand vs Netherlands the 6th Match in the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023
6th Match, Hyderabad
New Zealand won by 99 runs.
New Zealand322/7
Netherlands223/10New Zealand player Mitchell Santner and Netherlands player Colin Ackermann post-match press conference, New Zealand vs Netherlands, 6th Match, ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023.
New Zealand player Mitchell Santner
New Zealand player Mitchell Santner post-match press conference transcript
[Reporter:]
Mitch, well bowled today. Nine wicket win in Ahmedabad, 99 run win today. Things couldn't have gone better than planned.
[Mitchell Santner:]
Yes, obviously a nice start. We knew that turning up today after the highs of beating England, we couldn't get too complacent. We know the Netherlands are a good team and they almost touched up Pakistan the other day, so it was obviously nice to get the W tonight. It's another two points, but you got to move on pretty quickly in this tournament.
[Reporter:]
I'll come to your bowling a bit later, but tell me about your batting because I saw you hitting some real throwdowns this afternoon before the game started. It seemed like a difficult pitch to start on but you just came out there played your shots and scored it a strike rate of 200. Can you tell us what you did different?
[Mitchell Santner:]
Yeah, I think it was, slightly on the slower side. I thought they bowled, especially their spinners bowled extremely well. Yeah, it looked like we were kind of setting up a bigger score and they, managed to pull it back and get a couple of wickets. So, I guess when I went in, it was still that kind of ‘take it as deep as we can’ and then try have a couple of big overs at the end, which luckily enough we did, to get up to 320.
[Reporter:]
Your second five-wicket international wicket haul, not as economical as in Ahmedabad, but a different pitch today and still managed to find a way to pick up wickets.
[Mitchell Santner:]
Yeah, it was obviously nice to get the rewards. I don't think I bowled as well as I did in Ahmedabad. Probably missed a little bit more, but it was nice to keep trying to be aggressive and get wickets. I guess that's the only way we can kind of slow the batters down in the middle of the ODI innings, is to take wickets. And I thought, as a bowling unit, we did that very well. Guys coming back, still being aggressive, trying to take wickets, and managed to chip them out along we went. And it was nice to get the win in the end.
[Reporter:]
Last one from me. You move on to your home away from home now, which is the Chennai Super Kings. You're playing two sides which are quite spin-heavy, and from what we saw last night in India-Australia, it's not going to be easy, is it?
[Mitchell Santner:]
No, not at all. We knew that going into the tournament that Chennai has that nature of being a bit spinny and it did, especially first innings the other night. And they're obviously good players of spin so it's going to be a challenge just like every other game is going to be in this World Cup. I think we're going to see teams beat teams and have upsets. We've got to be prepared for both those next coming games. Obviously first is Bangladesh and if it is something similar to the other night, it could be spinning a little bit in the daytime and then start to skid on a little bit and get a little bit dewy second innings so we've got to be prepared for both.
[Reporter:]
How do you specify this this win for the further games and did the batsmen reach the fulfilled target?
[Mitchell Santner:]
Yeah, I guess today It looked like a pretty good wicket - we were probably thinking 300 is probably par and we were obviously searching for it. I think we were in a position to get a little bit more than that. But we kind of lost wickets when we wanted to really go, in that kind of 30 to 40 over mark, which we know is - on the flip side bowling - that's obviously the tougher time when batters are looking to come hard.
I think we're reasonably happy with 320. But we know that under the lights here, it does skid on a little bit. I think we'll probably see that throughout this whole tournament where it might swing a little bit second innings, but it definitely looks like it comes on a bit.
[Reporter:]
How about the fitness of Kane Williamson and did you people miss him tonight?
[Mitchell Santner:]
Kane's looking good. He's hitting a lot of balls in the nets and I don't think he was obviously quite fit tonight. We've still got a few days before the next game, a couple more training so I guess the team will make a call then if he's ready to play but yeah, he's chomping at the bit, he wants to come in. But I guess it's more down to the medical team and where they think he's at. But yeah, no doubt when he comes back, it's going to be good for us.
[Reporter:]
Back home you play and spinners generally play a bit of a holding role. In comparison in the subcontinent, obviously, you are more of a wicket-taking option. So as a left-arm spinner, can you just talk us about the areas that you feel you've gotten better at and the kind of work that you've actually put into it?
[Mitchell Santner:]
Yeah, it's obviously nice to come over here and see some spinning wickets because they're few and far between back in New Zealand. I guess the role in New Zealand is slightly different to here. You want to be a little bit more aggressive. You keep your slips in for longer. I try to operate with that mid-on up most of the time, only having three back, trying to make them play big shots. And if it is spinning, yeah, the role is kind of more aggressive. And then I think we'll see at times throughout this tournament in some of the grounds where it might be, okay, it's pretty flat, it might be that defensive role for a little bit, try to get wickets through pressure. And then if it is, like tonight, if there is a little bit of spin, it might be, all right, let's be more aggressive. Let's throw it up, leave the slip in. And so that was nice. I think Rachin bowled extremely well as well, that kind of same mentality of always trying to get wickets through the middle
Netherlands player Colin Ackermann
Netherlands player Colin Ackermann post-match press conference transcript
[Reporter:]
You must be clearly disappointed with the result.
[Colin Ackermann:]
Yeah, very disappointed. Probably felt that New Zealand got 30-40 too many runs today. We just struggled to take wickets throughout the innings, I think, all their batters faced at least 40 balls in the top five. So, we struggled to peg them back, which resulted in them getting a good score on that wicket.
[Reporter:]
We saw that against Pakistan as well you decided to field first and bowl first, we saw in this game as well you decided to do that. What was the thought process behind that?
[Colin Ackermann:]
Yeah, I'm not really involved in the decision-making - the captain and coach do that but you know probably looking at the previous game against Pakistan we took three wickets in the power play and pegged them back pretty well it didn't work out that way today for us. I think we probably were looking to follow the same blueprint in taking early wickets in the power play, but it just didn't happen for us today.
[Reporter:]
And opening with a spinner, no other team seems to have done that so far in this World Cup. Is that something you guys have pre-planned, or is it just plainly because of the conditions that you're facing here?
[Colin Ackermann:]
Yeah, I think Aryan Dutt poses a massive threat with a new ball on these wickets. He poses a big threat for the left-handers up front. We saw today he got three maidens in the first three overs. He poses a massive threat especially to left-handers because he gets the ball to skid on and sometimes spins. It's all about match-ups for us.
[Reporter:]
So, as you said, you are chasing a big target over 300. And there is only 150 partnership. And the other one was only 40. So how crucial are the big partnerships in chasing big totals?
[Colin Ackermann:]
Yeah, it's obviously crucial. You need those 100-run partnerships if you want to chase down 320. So, we failed to do that again. We needed to set a firm base. I think we were 150 for 4 after 30 overs. So, we were kind of on track, but then we lost a couple of quick wickers after the 30th over. So, we needed to extend the partnerships, as you said.
[Reporter:]
Colin, probably not the best reflection of Dutch batting, and especially the running between the wickets?
[Colin Ackermann:]
Yeah, a couple of mishaps today, a couple of close calls as well. But we want to keep that running intent up. It's part of our DNA, part of our blueprint. So, we're always looking to steal a few singles and put the fielders under pressure on the boundary by running twos.
[Reporter:]
You were the first-choice spinner at Leicestershire, and your role there was pretty different.
How is it any different with the Netherlands?
[Colin Ackermann:]
Yeah, I think the conditions are different over here. In the UK, sometimes the balls don't spin as much as over here. We've got Aryan Dutt, we’ve got Roelof van der Merwe, we’ve got Saqib Zulfiqar - all good bowling options, so it's all about Scott Edwards, and what he feels is the right matchup on the day and against certain batters. I bowled pretty nicely against Pakistan and today didn't go according to plan which can happen.
[Reporter:]
Just want to ask you about your batting you know what was the thought process because as someone mentioned you were involved in that 50 and 40 in partnership. So, what was the thing that you were looking while batting and in the middle?
[Colin Ackermann:]
Yeah, I was looking to just try and take it as deep as possible. We knew that New Zealand wanted to try and take as many wickets early on, so we kind of had to absorb a bit of pressure. Like I said earlier, we were 150 after 30 overs, so we were kind of on track to chase that down, but I think we were four wickets down at that stage. So, we needed to be maybe three wickets down going into the last 20 overs with wickets in hand we know that we can chase that down.
[Reporter:]
How did the pitch play out? I mean, evidently there was turn, but as far as pace was concerned, was the ball stopping and word on Mitchell Santner's spell?
[Colin Ackermann:]
Yeah, I thought the pitch kept kind of low. And there wasn't much bounce on offer for the seamers. You could see Boult and Henry kind of attack the stumps early on. Then a couple of balls spun from Santner. He mixes his pace pretty well; he was a massive threat I think we played him pretty well up to a point and then we gave him a couple of soft wickets towards the back end.
[Reporter:]
How difficult is it for the team to come back after two early losses in such a major championship?
[Colin Ackermann:]
Yeah, I think we've played some good cricket in patches, we just haven't put together enough phases where we dominate. I think the game against Pakistan, we did one in the power play. We took three early wickets. And we laid a solid foundation with a bat. But then we kind of fell away. So, we need to put together all three phases of the game to win.
[Reporter:]
So, what's the plan for, I mean, the team will be traveling to Dharamsala. And there's a big gap of six days before the next game. So, what sort of changes and game plans you'll be working on in the coming game?
[Colin Ackermann:]
Yeah, we'll have to take a few days rest I think the schedule's been quite intense. We've been training very hard as well. We've taken that quite seriously. So, I suppose we'll have a couple of days to reflect and see what we've done well, what we haven't done so well, and then look at the next game against South Africa. Obviously, the conditions will change up in Dharamshala. So, we'll sit down as a group and assess.
[Reporter:]
So, you've had two consecutive losses by big margins. Has there been any conversation regarding trying to play the full 50 overs when you realize that the target is beyond reach? Because towards the later stages it comes down to the net run rate. So has there been any conversation regarding that?
[Colin Ackermann:]
It's only two games in. You know it doesn't tell the full story as well. Sometimes you've got to try and take it as deep as possible, but then the rate keeps climbing. But these bowlers do make it difficult for us. They're not just going to give us easy boundaries in the middle overs. So yeah, I suppose we lost by 100 runs today but I think we just gave them too many runs. We shouldn't have chased 320 you know, maybe 280 - 290 would have been a decent chase today.
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