Black Caps v India: Captain Mitchell Santner’s big call backfires as New Zealand slide to T20 series loss
Since taking over as captain of New Zealand’s white-ball teams, Mitchell Santner hasn’t put a foot wrong.
From leading the Black Caps to finals of the Champions Trophy in 2025, and this year’s T20 World Cup, to rejecting an Australian Big Bash League offer to remain loyal to his country, few could take issue with the 34-year-old’s leadership.
However, as the Black Caps were pulverised by India for a six-wicket T20 defeat in Wellington, Santner’s figures as the best bowler on either side don’t tell the full story.
As India’s opening pair of Abishek Sharma (113 off 38 balls) and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (45 off 19) put New Zealand’s bowlers to the sword, Santner kept himself out of the attack until – realistically speaking – the game was dead and buried.
Defending 199 to stop the visitors taking an unassailable 3-0 lead in the best of five series, Santner didn’t bring himself on until the ninth over, by which point India were already 156-1, and needed 43 runs from the final 72 balls.
As arguably the best finger spinner, if not spinner fullstop, operating in white-ball cricket, Santner’s introduction came far too late to stop India’s batters, after his charges had already been hit to all parts of Hnry Stadium.
While it would be wrong to lay the blame for defeat at Santner’s feet alone, his figures of 1-17 from three overs – one short of his full allotment – show he would have potentially been able to stem the tide at the very least.
In all conditions around the world, Santner has consistently shown his worth as a white-ball spinner, with his ability to deceive batters with flight and changes of pace proving to be an even greater asset than how much spin he imparts on the ball.
There is logic to Santner holding himself back. As a left-arm spinner, bowling to India’s two left-handed openers would have turned the ball into the batters’ hitting arcs, and allowed them to attack the square boundaries.
But post-match, the captain explained that seeing the performance of India’s attack in the first innings convinced him to back his quicks – all of whom went at more than 13 runs per over.
“I watched Axar [Patel] in the first innings, there wasn’t a lot there,” Santner told Sky Sport. “There was a bit of nibble there for the seamers.
“We tried [Michael] Bracewell to the two left-handers to start. They played that spin over in the power play very well. From there, it was just [about] trying to change it up to see what they can do.
“We’re going to have to look at ways to try and stop them. We’ve seen before, it’s pretty tough to stop them. But we go to Eden Park where [the boundaries are] smaller all around.
“We’re going to have to try and find ways.”
The Black Caps aren’t the first international side to be on the receiving end of India’s raw power, nor will they be the last. With two matches still to be played in this series, and having not beaten India in a home T20 since 2019, there is also a chance this becomes the second whitewash inflicted on New Zealand on home soil, after 2020.
But with pride on the line, there is still plenty to play for.
“Any time you play for your country is very special,” said Daryl Mitchell post-match. “Going to Eden Park, it’s a very proud sporting ground for us as New Zealanders – with the amount of great cricket games there and also the All Blacks have done alright there.
“We’ll look forward to heading to Eden Park with a fern on our chest, and getting stuck in.”
Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.