‘We back ourselves in one-offs’: Black Caps plan revenge against South Africa

In Colombo on Saturday New Zealand’s players and staff gathered in small groups at various locations around the city. One assembled in a beachside bar overlooking the Laccadive Sea, where they shared snacks, nursed drinks and tried their best to engage in conversation while making furtive glances towards the big screen. There was another in the team hotel, crammed into the room of their captain, Mitchell Santner. All of them monitored Pakistan’s game against Sri Lanka, and their pursuit of a victory that would enable them to pip the Black Caps to a place in the World Cup’s final four.

In the end Pakistan did win, but not by the margin they required – and on Tuesday it was reported that the Pakistan Cricket Board had fined each player around £13,500 as punishment, informing them that if they can accept rewards for good performances they “must also pay penalties for poor ones”.

This time it was New Zealand who were rewarded for Pakistan’s poor performances. “It was a pretty tough watch, pretty nervy at times,” Santner said. “I had a few other boys in my room and I had to leave because it was pretty tough. At every stage you just want to get through to the next stage and now it’s the semi-finals, it’s one game and you can potentially move on.”

Their next challenge is one over which they will have considerably more influence. On Wednesday they face South Africa, the World Cup’s only unbeaten side, in Kolkata. The South Africans’ six wins so far include a crushing victory against their semi-final opponents in the opening group stage, though they are refusing to accept that an overwhelming triumph in that game makes them overwhelming favourites for this one.

“I wish cricket was that easy,” said Aiden Markram, the South Africa captain and the highest-scoring batter remaining in the competition. “Both teams have played a lot of cricket since then and it’s a completely fresh start. I don’t think it’s as straightforward as being able to repeat that again. With regards to us being favourites or not, that’s all different people’s opinions.”

Santner insisted the teams reconvene as equals. “Whether you want to call us underdogs or not, for us it was everyone’s goal throughout the tournament to get to this stage. We’re here now, and we back ourselves in one-off games against most teams,” he said. “South Africa look a very good outfit but they’re in the same boat as us now – it’s one game and you’re into a final.”

Neither side has played at Eden Gardens in this competition and, 24 hours after they followed the action in Pallekele, New Zealand were glued to their screens once again to see if the game between India and West Indies would offer any pointers as to how this one might pan out.

“We got intel back from that game,” Santner said. “It looked a pretty good wicket. A little bit of dew second innings but I think whatever you do first, if you do it well you put yourself in a pretty good position.”

Markram said: “We kept a close eye on that game to get a bit of an indication. The wicket looks pretty good. We’ll just have to, not wing it, but come up with ways out in the middle after having seen a couple of balls, seeing how it’s playing and back those plans from there.”

Both sides are expected to have full squads to choose from, though New Zealand will have to assess Matt Henry’s condition after he returned to India on Tuesday night following a swift trip home for the birth of his second child. Jacob Duffy is likely to come in should he be considered excessively jetlagged.

“We’ll see how he pulls up,” Santner said of Henry. “It’s obviously quite far away, New Zealand from here. But he’ll have a little runaround in the morning, see if he’s ready, and hopefully he’s good to go.”