India series, an ideal preparatory ground for the World Cup: Santner

New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner was pleased to see his side borrow a page from India’s own playbook in its 50-run win on Wednesday.

“The way we started in the PowerPlay was what India has been doing to us a little bit. The way they took on the bowlers in the PowerPlay was outstanding, and set us up for a decent score. There was a period in the middle where we lost wickets, but then (the innings was) obviously finished off by Daryl (Mitchell) and (Zakary) Foulkes,” he told reporters here.

Santner reiterated that the series has provided ideal preparation for the upcoming T20 World Cup, despite some underwhelming results.

“We’ve got a couple of guys back for the next game, which is nice. It’s about getting our plans right, getting the roles sorted for what we’ve got coming up in the World Cup.”

The 33-year-old said his focus remains on bowling defensively, building pressure, and taking wickets.

“You want to be smart; six singles are a good option. We’ve seen a lot of power hitting and plenty of big scores. I think the role of a spinner (in T20Is), unless there is spin, is to build pressure and get wickets that way,” he said.

Santner also sympathised with Ish Sodhi, who endured a tough night after opting to go on the attack.

“If you bowl one in Hardik (Pandya) or Rinku (Singh) or Dube’s arc, they’re going to take it on. You play the percentages, the match-ups. As a finger spinner, it can be a challenge. If a batter is not picking a wrist spinner, you tell them to be a little more aggressive like Kuldeep (Yadav) or (Ravi) Bishnoi. So, Ish, with his more variations, might have tried to be aggressive with the state of the game.”