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ICC CRICKET WORLD CUP

June 25, 2019

Mitchell Santner

Birmingham, England, UK

Q. Of course you're at the top of the table and all teams are dangerous, but how dangerous do you think the Pakistan team is, especially in terms of their bowling strength?
MITCHELL SANTNER: Yeah, I think they're very dangerous. Obviously, they've had a pretty good record over here. They won the Champions Trophy a couple of years ago, and they've come off a pretty good win against South Africa. We're at the top at the moment, but we can't take any games lightly. Obviously, for us, we need to prepare accordingly for tomorrow.

Q. When you woke up this morning and looked out the window and saw that it was raining again, was it a bit of a case of deja vu, and how did you prepare for that, given it's a swimming pool out there on the field today?
MITCHELL SANTNER: Yeah, I think we've come to expect a little bit in Birmingham that it's going to rain. Yeah, obviously, it's never ideal to go indoors, but you've got to, I guess, prepare accordingly. I think the weather forecast is pretty good for tomorrow. So I think we should obviously prepare like we would any other day, and obviously not think about the rain too much and get on with it tomorrow.

Q. You guys have played at Edgbaston before. Pakistan hasn't. Is that going to give you an edge when it comes to knowing what that pitch is like? And do you think the pitch would have changed over the course of the last week?
MITCHELL SANTNER: Yeah, I think, obviously, it was probably a little bit slower than we thought last game here. Obviously, they've had a bit of time to, I guess, bring it back up. Saying that, though, it's under covers again today. So we're not sure what it's going to be or how different or similar it will be. Obviously, we have to, I guess, make that decision out there tomorrow and adapt like we have been doing throughout the competition. Pakistan are going to have to do the same.

Q. Mitchell, the last match, New Zealand was struggling against spin bowlers. Pakistan have some very good spin bowlers. How do you see tomorrow's match? Will it be a threat, Pakistan's spin bowling, for New Zealand?
MITCHELL SANTNER: Yeah, I think so. Their bowling attack on the whole is very good. They've got some very good seam bowlers as well as spin bowlers. I guess going off the last game here, it did spin a little bit. So we have to obviously prepare like it might do that, but then seeing that the pitch might be better, I think it might be better than it was last time.

We've played Pakistan a lot recently. We played them in New Zealand, which are similar conditions to over here. We're aware of their strengths, and I think Wahab back into their team is very good for them. Amir is bowling very well as well. We can't take them lightly, and we'll have to prepare accordingly.

Q. How difficult is it to prepare against a team like Pakistan, which is known for being unpredictable? They are one moment up, other moment down. Is it difficult to prepare against a team like that?
MITCHELL SANTNER: Yeah, I guess you have to prepare like they're going to come out and play their best cricket. I guess we've seen early in this tournament they've taken down big sides. They took down England and took down South Africa the other day. When they're hot, they're really hot. We have to, obviously, find ways of trying to cool them down when they're like that.

Yeah, I guess we're playing pretty good cricket as well, so I think we're in for a pretty good match tomorrow.

Q. Mitch, having bowled the way you have, do you feel the wickets column doesn't do justice to what you've done?
MITCHELL SANTNER: Yeah, I guess a little bit. I guess the wickets have been pretty flat, and I guess the job of the spinner is to build pressure up through the middle there. I think I've done a pretty good job of that. If the wickets are falling at the other end, that's fine.

It's a team game, and I guess the way our bowling, textbook bowling as a whole, has been pretty good. We've been able to take wickets throughout each period, and I guess that's why we've had to chase some lower scores. But, yeah, I guess that could all change tomorrow hopefully.

Q. It's not been a good World Cup for spinners generally, finger spinners especially. What do you think you do differently from others. Your community is under fire. What do you think you bring differently to other finger spinners?
MITCHELL SANTNER: Yeah, I guess it's quite hard when the pitches aren't offering a lot in terms of spin. I guess you have to use your variations and change your speed more often than not. Try to keep the batsman guessing, and I guess the way Shakib bowled yesterday, he got 5-fer against and bowled very well.

I guess it's one of those things that through the middle it's about trying to find ways to still take wickets when teams are trying to get to that 30 over mark, maybe two or three down. I think the use of a spinner in the back ten, we've seen more and more in this tournament and trying to get wickets through that way.

But I guess the team as a whole, our bowling attack has been doing very well. We've taken wickets up top, and I guess continually trying to take wickets through the middle is very important.

Q. Kane Williamson has back to back 100s. Just how crucial is he to your team?
MITCHELL SANTNER: Very. Yeah, obviously, like you said, he's coming off two 100s, and the one against South Africa the other night was pretty special. It didn't look, I guess, as fluid, his innings, but that's what made it so good. He was there at the end when we needed him. Obviously, the other day it was his highest score in ODI cricket.

So the guys batting around him have been pretty good as well. I guess that's our blueprint is to try to take it deep, try to be two or three down after 30 Os, and then trying to catch up from there until the last ten. On the way, the likes of Kane and Ross have done that.

I guess most of our games we're trying to set scores, it's been pretty good. I guess, if we can do something similar tomorrow and try to set up a big last ten overs, like we've seen the other teams do in this tournament, it's going to be good for trying to set some big scores.

Q. Mitch, for a proud cricketing nation like New Zealand, how important it is to win a World Cup title?
MITCHELL SANTNER: Yeah, pretty good considering we haven't done it yet. So that would be nice. But, yeah, I think we're in a pretty good spot at the moment. We've got to not get ahead of ourselves and look too far ahead. We've got to play each game as it comes. We want to be winning every game, not just trying to make the semis. I guess a factor of where the semis will be played is pretty important as well.

So I guess for us, we've just got to look for the next game coming up, and that's Pakistan, and do what we do and, I guess, do our scouting and stuff accordingly to be at our best come tomorrow.

Q. Mitchell, you've already edged a couple of tight games in this Cricket World Cup. I guess a question in two parts. First, what is it about this side that gives it the edge in those kinds of scenarios, do you feel? And second, how much confidence does that give you edging those kinds of games that you're able to kind of push on and get to the latter stages and potentially win this thing?
MITCHELL SANTNER: I guess, you look at our side as a whole, we're quite a scrappy side, and we pride ourselves on winning those little moments, like I guess we have been, and saying that, we could have been on the other end of a couple of those games. I guess we're sitting here without -- we haven't lost a game yet.

But like you said, we've had a couple of tight games, which I guess the key so far is other people have been stepping up, and I guess that's what you want to do as a team. You want everyone to step up at different times throughout the tournament, and I think that's what we've found so far. We haven't relied on a few guys to do the bulk of the work, but in saying that, being on the winning side of those tight encounters give the whole squad confidence.

So that's nice, obviously, to going into each game, that you know you've got confidence. The team, other people are standing up at different times, and you can back everyone to do a job rather than just relying on a couple of key players.

Q. So you mentioned for the conditions in New Zealand, they're quite similar to that in the UK. How do you think assessing the conditions and being used to them has been important in your campaign this year?
MITCHELL SANTNER: Yeah, I think it's very important for, I guess, every team to be able to adapt to different conditions as fast as they can. We've seen throughout this tournament every pitch has been different. There was obviously a lot of talk about them all being flat and everyone scoring 400, but with the UK summer and the rain around, it hasn't been that way.

Yes, I think -- I guess it's about assessing out there, when you're out there, what a good score is, what a defendable score is. I think we've seen maybe a couple times teams have been looking for 350, where maybe 300 is a good score, and falling about to 270. So it's about, I guess, trying to find that good score when you're out there and then playing accordingly.

So I think the team that can adapt the quickest is in pretty good stead to win the game.

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