Ahmedabad, Feb 15 (IANS) New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner blamed the loss of three crucial wickets in the Power-play by his team while batting first and their inability in taking more than one wicket with the ball in the first six overs in the eased conditions as the reason for their defeat to South Africa in a crucial Group D match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 in Ahmedabad on Saturday.
Asked to bat first, New Zealand lost Tim Seifert (13), Finn Allen (31), and Rachin Ravindra (13) as they ended the Power-play with 58/3. They were 64/4 in the seventh over, and though they recovered thanks to a 74-run partnership between Mark Chapman (48) and Daryl Mitchell (32), they lost three quick wickets again to end with a modest total of 175/7 in 20 overs. At one juncture, they looked like they would go past 200, but Marco Jansen’s 4-40 haul helped South Africa fight back.
“Wickets in the Power-play are always key. Probably a bit below par (today), but it was a little sticky too. Different grounds, so you need to adapt. We pride ourselves on that. Communication is key between batters and bowlers,” said Santner after their seven-wicket defeat.
Santner said his team was put under pressure by the South Africans bowlers, and they tried to find ways out of that with aggressive batting and taking wickets. However, that did not prove enough as Aiden Markram hammered anunbeaten 86 off 44 balls to help the Proteas to a comfortable win.
“We were put under pressure in the powerplay, so finding ways to get out of overs, still staying aggressive and taking wickets. We had a good series against India. Any time you can play India in these conditions (leading up to a World Cup), it is good prep. Came up against a good team tonight,” said the spin-bowling all-rounder.
New Zealand will now be playing a smaller team like Canada, which they rarely encounter in ICC events, in their next match. Santner said they will do a lot of video scouting to know more about their opponents.
“That is a challenge. We have played with and against them (South Africa) a lot. We will do a lot of video scouting about Canada. No easy games in the tournament and we know that will be the case in a couple of days’ time,” said Santner.
New Zealand have to win that match, their last in Group D, to inch closer to securing a spot in the Super 8 stage.
–IANS
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