NZâu00c2u0080u00c2u0088skipper Williamson says Santner, who had scores of 32 and 71 in Kanpur where the Kiwis succumbed to India, will look to hit the batting high notes in Kolkata as well
Mitchell Santner plays one over mid-wicket on Day Five of the Kanpur Test at Green Park yesterday. Pic/PTI
Mitchell Santner plays one over mid-wicket on Day Five of the Kanpur Test at Green Park yesterday. Pic/PTI
Kanpur: On his first visit to India, Mitchell Santner has made a good impression with his all-round performance and that's a huge positive for the New Zealand side from the Kanpur Test, captain Kane Williamson said.
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Santner played fighting knocks of 32 and 71 (his maiden Test fifty) in Kiwis' resistance against the dominating Indian spinners and took five wickets, albeit in a losing cause. "He played outstandingly well. It's his first time in this part of the world playing Test cricket and it was a great step in the right direction for his game. We all know he has got the talent with bat and ball and in the field, to apply himself like he did and bowl a number of overs and be successful was very good against good players of spin. It was a huge positive for us," said Williamson.
Moving on
"He'll look forward to the next one and I'm sure he's learned a lot from this experience," added the young Kiwi captain at the post match press conference after New Zealand lost the first Test of the three-match series by 197 runs. Not only Santner, he also lauded Luke Ronchi for his defying knocks in tough conditions. He scored 32 in the first innings and delayed India's victory march with his 80-run knock during the Kiwi chase.
Kane Williamson
"There were a lot of positives for us. Guys who hadn't played here before spent some valuable time in the middle and made some valuable contributions. Mitch Santner for one and Luke Ronchi another who certainly showed they had the skill-sets to perform well in these conditions.
NZ's talented attack
"It is a challenge against a very good attack but they've got the skill-sets and it's being able to stick to it for a lot longer. That is the same with the ball for our young spin attack who are extremely talented. "Being over here in these hot conditions, being able to remain focussed for a long period because you know if you put the ball in the area for long enough, you'll get your rewards. That's what the Indian team showed us," said Williamson.
Bad phases cut deep
The 26-year-old said a few bad phases in the match took the game away from them. "The back end of our first innings with the bat and certainly when we bowled in the second innings there was probably a three-hour period where we didn't bowl very well and they got away from us. "It's a combination of us not quite being at our best at certain times and they played very well," he said.
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