HYDERABAD: Mitchell Santner wreaked havoc in their second league match of the World Cup as he took a five-wicket haul to guide New Zealand to a 99-run victory over The Netherlands at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium here on Monday.
Santner became the first player to pick five wickets at this venue. Earlier the best figures were by Mohammad Siraj 4 for 46 against New Zealand in January 2023. This is Santner’s maiden five-wicket haul in the ODI World Cup and second in his ODI career. Matt Henry snared 3 for 40 to join the onslaught and bowled out the Dutchmen for 223 in 46.3 overs.
Asked to bat first, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, and skipper Tom Latham slammed half-centuries to power New Zealand to a competitive 322 for 7 in the stipulated 50 overs.
Chasing, Netherlands openers — Vikramjit Singh (12) and Max O’Dowd (16) — departed cheaply. Colin Ackermann scored 69 off 73 balls with five boundaries and waged a lone battle. Teja Nidamanuru (21 26b, 2x4, 1x6) gave moral support to his fight as both shared a 50-run partnership for the fourth wicket.
After losing Ackermann in the 36th over, none of the other batters displayed any remarkable performances.
Earlier, Netherlands skipper Scott Edwards once again opened the bowling with off-spinner Aryan Dutt (2/62). Kiwis openers Young (70 — 80b, 7x4, 2x6) and Devan Conway (32 — 40b, 5x4, 1x6) struggled in the first three overs as they failed to score a single run off Dutt and Ryan Klein.
However, Young opened the Black Caps’ account with a boundary off the first ball of the fourth over and added one more in the same over.
Then Conway and Young toyed with the Dutch bowlers as they struck a minimum of two boundaries in the next six overs. By the end of the first powerplay, the score was 63 for no loss.
Paul van Meekeran (2/59) put a halt to the runs flow as he broke the 67-run stand by dismissing Conway in the 13th over after the Kiwis got off to a good start.
Ravindra, who became the headline of their opening game against England by smashing an unbeaten 123, scored 51 from as many balls with the help of three fours and a maximum. The 23-year-old Ravindra, added a 77-run partnership in 84 deliveries for the second wicket along with Young before the latter went down for Bas de Leede (1-64) in the 27th over.
Ravindra went down for the next ball after his half-century as he was caught behind his wickets by Edward in the bowling of van der Merwe.
Daryl Mitchell (48 47b, 5x4, 2x6) got life when debutant Sybrand Engelbrecht dropped him at mid-off in 32 over. However, van Meekeran castled the stumps to end Mitchell’s run.
Latham hit 53 that came off in 46 balls including six boundaries and one over it to continue the momentum. He also hit a hat-trick of fours in the 36th over during his knock.
He was sent to the pavilion in the crucial penultimate over when he advanced down the pitch when keeper Edward quickly whipped off the bails.
Before his dismissal, Glen Phillips (4) and Mark Chapman (5) departed cheaply. De Leede proved expensive in the last over of the innings by conceding 21 runs as the Blackcaps put a competitive target against the Dutchmen.
