Mitchell Santner is a familiar name to Indian fans, being a regular in the New Zealand limited overs sides that have toured the country over the years and in the Indian Premier League (IPL) as part of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK). This month, though, he has arguably etched his name permanently in the memories of fans in the country as the player who ripped India’s batting lineup to shreds and led New Zealand to a historic Test series win in the country.
Santner’s role of being a spin-bowling all-rounder, coupled with his general inconsistency in red-ball cricket, has resulted in him having a rather stop-start Test career. He made his debut in November 15 and yet, the match against India in Pune last week was just the 29th of his career. Santner returned figures of 7/53 in India’s first innings and 6/104 in the second, making it easily his best performance in Test cricket to date. All this comes after he was not even selected for the first Test.
Incidentally, the 32-year-old has experienced a similar trajectory in the IPL. He was bought in the 2018 auction by CSK and has been a mainstay in the squad ever since. However, Santner has also had to endure lengthy stretches on the bench, as it often tends to be the case for most foreign players in the IPL. He didn’t get a single game in the 2018 season but made his presence known with a bang in a heated 2019 match against Rajasthan Royals.
How Santner announced himself for CSK
The match is probably better known for CSK captain MS Dhoni running on to the field to argue with the umpires in the last over after the latter reversed a no-ball call. CSK needed 18 runs to win the match at the start of that over with Dhoni batting on 56 off 41 balls. Ravindra Jadeja was on strike and Ben Stokes was the bowler. Jadeja hit a six first ball and then ran a single off the next, which was a no ball.
Dhoni then could only run two after which Stokes nailed a yorker and cleaned up the former India captain. Santner walked out and the first delivery he faced was initially declared a no ball for height. The batters ran two but then the umpires reversed that decision, leading to Dhoni running back on to the field and having a word with them.
Three more runs came through a double and a wide, leaving CSK needing three to win off the last ball. Stokes bowled full outside off, Santner anticipated it and moved into a position that allowed him to send the ball soaring over the long-on fielder for a six. Jadeja ran to him and lifted him up as CSK celebrated the thrilling victory.
Both players fell to each other’s deliveries in the second Test in Pune. Jadeja was dismissed for 38 off 46 balls in India’s first innings. Santner then fell to Jadeja for four runs off 16 balls in New Zealand’s second innings.
He had scored 33 in 51 as New Zealand were all out for 259 runs in their first innings. Santner then ran through the Indian lineup to dismiss them for just 156 runs after which the Kiwis set them a target of 359 to chase. India got off to a fairly steady start in their second innings, getting to a score of 96/1 in just 15.3 overs without taking too many risks. However, Santner took over again after that, picking six wickets as India were all out for 245 runs. New Zealand thus won the match by 113 runs and confirmed a first-ever Test series win over India in the latter’s home.
