Here is the full transcript of Mitchell Satner’s press conference ahead of the New Zealand vs South Africa semi-final in Kolkata
(Reporter:)
Given the time span between when you last played in Sri Lanka and being here, do you think a few extra days would have been better, acclimatised to the conditions and also to the wicket? Big game.
(Mitch Santner:)
Yeah, I think the conditions will probably be a bit different to where we were in Colombo, but I think everyone has played a lot of cricket at this stage of the tournament. Even some rest days in between are probably more beneficial. The boys had a good head today. And I think we watched that game last night, which was a good indicator of what the surface was going to be like. And then, yeah, I think they’ll all be ready to go tomorrow.
(Reporter:)
So from 2016 to 2026, India was quite an integral part of how you shaped up in international cricket. How can you sum up the journey? And do you think this team is finally ready with all the experience from the IPL and other leagues and your tours here? Do you think you are finally there to go through and win?
(Mitch Santner:)
That would be nice. But yes, I think the more you can experience the conditions you play in, the more you learn from them, be it an international tour, IPL and the same for most teams. South Africa is the same. Most of the guys in the IPL have played a lot in these conditions as well. So yeah, I think everyone is pretty familiar with what you get. And obviously it’s at the bottom of what it looks like, that can change quickly. Conditions can change, opposition changes. So I think the teams that can do it the fastest are putting themselves in a pretty good position. I think our squad was there several times. But then again, you get to semi-final cricket, that means you’re playing other teams who are also playing pretty good cricket in South Africa, right there of course.
(Reporter:)
(inaudible)
(Mitch Santner:)
Yeah, unfortunately it’s not filmed as much as it was back then. But yeah, it was a great trip. We always enjoy playing cricket in India. The fans are of course one of the reasons you play the game. They will be coming in the lorries to watch in India and there will be no doubt about that tomorrow night. So yeah, guys are excited about it. Some guys’ first World Cup, first semi-final in front of a lot of people, so it’s exciting.
(Reporter:)
Mitch, the fate of your tournament was taken away from you after the defeat to England. So you can just talk about the experience of watching the Pakistan-Sri Lanka match, given the way Pakistan started and the way Sri Lanka started, and then you had to travel here, as you said, after a long time in Colombo and now – Zimbabwe talked about having to adapt to different dimensions and conditions. So how has it been these past few days? can you talk to us
(Mitch Santner:)
Yes, I think we had to do that throughout the tournament. Obviously we play pool, we are in Chennai and Ahmedabad. Different reasons, different conditions. Go to Colombo, again very different. Yeah, it was – I think watching the Pakistan-Sri Lanka match was quite difficult, quite nerve-wracking at times. I had a few other guys in my room and I had to leave because it was pretty hard. But yeah, I think Pakistan have played some pretty good cricket in this competition as well as Sri Lanka – it’s a very fine margin at the end of the day that separates a lot of teams, especially as we’ve seen over the course of the tournament, he’s been a potential upset throughout the competition, so I think at every stage the result is you just want to get to the next stage, whether it’s the first stage, you can obviously move on to the Super 8s and now you can move on to the semi-finals. So we’re here again now, which is ideal, but we’re here again and we know we have a challenge tomorrow against a very good team.
(Reporter:)
We are in India, organizing the Festival of Colors. Do you wish to play a colorful game and what would be the role of Ish Sodhi to contain Markram?
(Mitch Santner:)
I think our uniform isn’t that colorful, so I might have to liven it up a bit, wear black there. But yeah, I mean, I’ve been to India a few times, whenever there are festivals, it’s great to see. Hopefully we can put on a bit of a show tomorrow night and I think so, I think we’re looking at the goal last night. It’s been pretty flat, I think the spinners still play a role, the seamers too and I think the ground dimensions also play a huge role in the conditions I mean Sri Lanka, we’ve had a big side for both of those games where you can try to get it to that side where it’s a little bit smaller but more central, so again It adapts on the fly, you can get in and out of the team as the best.
(Reporter:)
In fact you have been in India for a long time and just before the start of the game the weather, the conditions, the dew, everything is very familiar to you and you have the same advantage both in South Africa and with you. This pitch is very dry here and what are you going to plan for the toss here, are you going to bat first or are you going to chase here?
(Mitch Santner:)
I think it’s probably not as dewy as the IPL at this time of year. I know in IPL you tend to bowl first because then it is quite difficult to hold the ball. We got the info from the West Indies India game last night, it looked pretty good. A bit of dew in the second innings but I think whatever you do first you do well, you put yourself in a pretty good position. West Indies, if they could have 200, it could be 210, different story, but then I think it takes one man, Sanju, to take this game away from West Indies. So it’s a very balanced game. So I think whatever you do with the roll, if you do it right, you’re going to be in a pretty good position.
(Reporter:)
Mitch, there’s a lot of talk about South Africa and that it’s potentially their time, and of course there’s always rhetoric around South Africa and the historical narrative. But for you, I mean you also want to win the World Cup, just tell us what that might mean for you and how you see the narrative in New Zealand versus the narrative in South Africa.
(Mitch Santner:)
Yeah, I think it’s, look, it’s probably two teams that have been in and around it for a long time. I think we know the heartbreak of South Africa two years ago. Again I think they are playing very good cricket and it shows in this tournament, I think the only unbeaten team, we played decent cricket as well. So I think yes, I think it’s whoever shows up tomorrow who will assess the conditions as best they can. We know South Africa will be a threat as they have shown and we will just go out there and try to put some pressure on them at different stages of the game and they will do the same for us. I’m guessing you’re not quite there, especially not quite the finale, but it’s a massive game and you can do these things well for a long time and see what happens. But South Africa are a very balanced side as we have seen during this tournament.
(Reporter:)
Part of it asked a lady who has been following South Africa and your campaign in this tournament. South Africa beat you and India and probably the favorites at the moment. And you kind of started, but you reached the semi-finals. How do you see this position? Do you feel like an underdog or is it just another game on another day and you have your chances?
(Mitch Santner:)
Yeah, I think it is, whether you want to call it an underdog or not, I think for us, everyone’s goal during the tournament is to get on the podium. We’re here now supporting one-off matches against most teams and being able to adapt as quickly as possible to what’s in front of us. South Africa look like a very good outfit as they showed and I think they are in the same boat as us now. It is one game and you are in the final and it will be the same for India and England. So I guess conditions have changed a lot for us from where we were. Chennai. Ahmedabad, Sri Lanka and here we are again in Kolkata, we haven’t been there yet. We’ll discuss the conditions tomorrow and see how it goes but yeah I think at this stage it’s just a knockout game and that’s at the end of the day and whoever really shows up will go through
(Reporter:)
I was wondering if there were any specific lessons or takeaways that you talked about during the week from the first game against South Africa?
(Mitch Santner:)
Yeah, sure. I think the Ahmedabad surface was good and South Africa have a lot of strength. I think the power play for us with the ball was where they really got to the flyer. So I think every time you play, we probably didn’t play a perfect game during this tournament. And I think that’s a good thing for us. I think if we can put it together, we’ll be in a pretty good position, but yeah, I think there’s no real hiding or mystery about what’s next, what are you going to bring for us and them, we know they’re probably going to field the same team and a very good team? And then I think they probably also know what we’re going to do for us. So again, it’s all, I think, on the surface and adapting as quickly as we can. But we know if you can get into that top order, but their middle order also contains a lot of power, so maybe you don’t try to beat them, maybe they try to get out of the overs and try for it, it might be 180, is a good score instead of 220. But I think we will wait and see. But yeah, I think they’ve got all the bases covered and that’s why they’re undefeated in this tournament.
(Reporter:)
How hard it is to focus before such a crucial game like the semi-final of the World Cup when some teams are stuck in this country, they can’t fly back, there is a crisis in a part of the world. How difficult is it to concentrate on cricket in this situation?
(Mitch Santner:)
Yes, I think it is a challenge. I mean, everybody’s not too far away from the news, whether it’s on your phone or on TV, and you kind of see what’s going on. So I think at the end of the day I think we’re pretty safe here and we’ve got a massive game coming up tomorrow so what we can do today is prepare for tomorrow’s game and then go out there and try to put on a bit of a show to get people to come out and watch a game.
(Reporter:)
Is Matt back on your team? Just a question about it. Are you also happy to be an underdog? I mean it’s good for you that you’re an underdog, you can only –
(Mitch Santner:)
Yeah, we’ve had that tag for a long time, so we’re kind of used to it. Matt’s in the air at the moment, landing tonight so we’ll see how he pulls out – apparently it’s quite a long way to New Zealand from here. But obviously he’s going to have a bit of a run in the morning to see if he’s ready to go, so yeah, now I’m hoping he’ll be good.
