New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner acknowledged that they were beaten by a better team in India after their four-wicket loss in the Champions Trophy final at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai on Sunday.
After deciding to bat first, the Kiwis posted a fighting score of 251 runs on the board after half-centuries from Daryl Mitchell and Michael Bracewell. The Blackcaps got off to a promising start as they were 69-1 after 10 overs but then the Indian spin quartet was able to put a stranglehold on the run-scoring.
Kuldeep Yadav got the big wicket of Rachin Ravindra, who was looking good and was taking the game away from India. Yadav also accounted for Kane Williamson whereas Varun Chakravarthy dismissed Will Young and Glenn Phillips. Santner gave credit to India’s spin attack for keeping them at bay in the middle phase.
Santner said in the post-match presentation, “It was good bowling. We lost a couple of wickets after the powerplay. They really got the squeeze on. Credit to the way their spinners bowled, all four of them, world-class bowlers and they showed that again today. We were probably 20 under, maybe 25 under of what we wanted to get but we knew we had a total, we tried to fight and that’s what we did.”
On the other hand, Santner also hailed Indian captain Rohit Sharma’s knock. The Indian opener scored a match-winning knock of 76 runs off 83 balls and bagged the Player of the Match award.
Santner added, “The powerplay was the best time to bat, Rohit and Gill cashed in, Rohit’s innings was outstanding, almost a run-a-ball on that wicket and it put us on the back foot, but we knew the game could change quickly and we kept chipping away at the wickets and stayed in the game.”
Santner was proud of the effort that was put in by his players throughout the eight-team tournament.
He concluded, “It has been a good tournament. We had challenges along the way, but we have grown as a group and played some good cricket. We were just beaten by a good side who turned up today. Lot of good stuff from our group, guys stepping up at different times and everyone contributed, that’s all you can ask for as a captain and as a team.”
Mitchell Santner will play for Mumbai Indians in the upcoming IPL.
