Santner Credits SA Bowling After NZ's 7-Wicket Loss in T20I Opener

Speaking during the post-match presentation, Mitchell Santner said New Zealand got a good start by winning the toss, but the pitch had more assistance for bowlers than expected, especially early on. He credited South Africa for bowling very well and putting pressure early, which led to New Zealand losing four wickets in the powerplay.

Santner also noted that the team failed to adapt quickly to the conditions, and losing early wickets made it difficult to recover. He felt that a total of 120-130 runs could have made the chase more challenging.

"It was a good start winning the toss. I think there was probably a little bit more in the pitch than we expected, especially up front. South Africa bowled really well and put us under pressure early. Losing wickets in the powerplay always makes it tough from there. I guess it was one of those situations where, if you identify that the pitch is doing a little bit early, maybe you need to have a bit of a look. But again, they bowled well. Being four down in the powerplay is always a challenge. Even if we could have scrapped to 120 or 130, it might have created a few more challenges for them in the second innings," Santner said.

Looking ahead, he said the team will reflect on their batting performance and move on quickly, especially with the next match in Hamilton expected to have different pitch conditions. He added that in a five-match series, each game helps teams understand the opposition better and improve for the remaining matches.

"It's one of those games where you reflect on the little moments, but with a quick turnaround you have to move on pretty quickly. We pride ourselves on adapting, and I think we didn't do that quickly enough today. That's something we will look at. Hamilton will be a different wicket with different dimensions, so you've got to learn on the fly a bit. We will reflect on the batting innings and then move forward from there.I think every game you play helps you understand the opposition a bit more. When you have a five-game series, you do have that luxury. You obviously don't want to start slowly like we did today, but each game helps you understand the players and what things might look like going forward," the Blackcaps skipper added.

Coming to the match, batting first, New Zealand were bundled out for just 91 runs in 14.3 overs after a brilliant display of bowling by the visitors. None of the New Zealand batters crossed the 30-run mark, with veteran all-rounder James Neesham top-scoring with 26 off 21 balls, with two fours and one six.

Apart from Neesham, captain Mitchell Santner (15 off 19 balls, with two fours), Cole McConchie (15 off 11 balls, with one four) and Bevon Jacobs (10 off seven deliveries, with one six) couldn't convert their start.It was a commanding display by South Africa, with the 19-year-old Nqobani Mokoena bagging a three-wicket haul (3/26) on his debut. Apart from the debutant, Gerald Coetzee (2/14), Ottneil Baartman (2/22), and captain Keshav Maharaj (2/25) scalped two wickets apiece.

Chasing 92 runs, wicketkeeper-batter Connor Esterhuizen played a match-winning, unbeaten knock of 45 off 48 balls, with two fours and as many sixes as the Proteas chase down the target in 16.4 overs. South Africa registered a clinical seven-wicket win with four more games to go.

- ANI