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Blackcaps' skipper inspires momentum shift to sink Sri Lanka
Sport Nation • February 26th, 2026 12:37 pm
Mitchell Santner on his way to being top run scorer for the game | Photo: Lahiru Thushara / Photosport
After a shaky start to New Zealand’s first game in the Super 8 against Sri Lanka, captain Mitchell Santner’s top run scoring shift lifted the Blackcaps, before a clinical bowling display saw the Kiwi side secure a crucial win.
With the top of the batting order falling before they could seemingly get into their groove, Santner and Cole McConchie formed what turned out to be a match winning partnership to place the Kiwi side into a prime position to make the T20 World Cup semi-finals.
Chatting to Sport Nation's Scotty and Izzy, the Blackcaps skipper was just hoping to give Sri Lanka a target worth chasing.
“Just try not to get rolled for 100,” Santner said.
“We lost three wickets at 84, so we tried not to lose another one.
“But it was nice to have McConchie out there, he can whack it.
“To get us up to 160 was nice.”
With the amount of quality spinners the Blackcaps have at their disposal, Santner was glad to see a bit of spin in the pitch, especially when slower is better.
“Our learnings from the first innings was the slower you bowl, the more it spun,” Santner said. “And I don’t need a second invitation to bowl slow.”
“Getting to 160, we knew that was probably above par if we could start well.”
And start well the Blackcaps did with Matt Henry knocking over Pathum Nissanka with the first ball.
“Henry got fired up on that first wicket.”
“It’s a bit of a momentum game at the end of the day and it kind of shifted with us at the end of the innings with the bat, and then the way Henry started us off.
“You lose two or three pretty quickly, it makes it tough chasing. We couldn’t have asked for a nicer start.”
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With Rachin Ravindra being New Zealand’s leading wicket taker in the game, combined with Santner top run scoring, the Blackcaps’ skipper wouldn’t have minded getting a piece of those pre game odds.
“That would’ve been paying a good amount on the TAB.” Santner joked.
“We have stacked a few all-rounders who can bowl and bat with the spin. It’s nice to be able to contribute in every way.
“The boys were electric in the field. It’s a standard we’ve now set.”
With one Super 8 game remaining, the Blackcaps are sitting in a good place to progress to the semi-finals.
The team from New Zealand face England who are already through to the next round after beating Pakistan and Sri Lanka already.
With the way the pitch played against Sri Lanka, Santner might need to change up the strategy, that’s if he even gets the chance to decide.
“I think I’ve lost 10 tosses in a row,” Santner joked.
“We pride ourselves on adapting very quickly. It could play very similar to the last wicket, so we’d go with a similar strategy.”
The Blackcaps take on England on Saturday the 28th February at 2:30am (NZT) where they will hope to cement their spot in the T20 World Cup semi-finals.
Listen to the full interview:
