CWC 2023: Mitchell Santner bowls New Zealand to victory against Netherlands

New Zealand enjoyed their second consecutive victory in the ongoing World Cup as spinners orchestrated Netherlands downfall to clinch a comfortable 99-run victory at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Monday.

The Netherlands lost wickets at regular intervals with Mitchell Santner leading the charge with the ball. His bewitching spell made it hard for the Dutch batters to survive on the pitch.

Except for Colin Ackermann the rest of the batters found it hard to extend their stay on the pitch. Matt Henry drew the first blood by dismissing Vikramjit Singh for 12. Mitchell Santner and Rachin Ravindra took charge with the ball to put the Kiwis in the driver's seat.

With wickets falling on the other end, Ackermann still went on with his business and struck a 69 off 73 balls before losing his wicket to Santner.

Skipper Scott Edwards and Sybrand Engelbrecht tried to push the Netherlands towards victory, but Santner broke the partnership to ensure the momentum stayed in their favour.

He combined with Henry to end Netherlands' innings for a score of 223 and walk out with a 99-run victory. Santner was the pick of the bowlers as he clinched a five-wicket haul with figure of 5-59.

Earlier in the innings, Netherlands restricted the Kiwi batters from scoring runs from early on as the Dutch bowled three maidens in a row after taking the field.

Openers Devon Conway and Will Young refused to slow down and opened their arms with a barrage of strokes. Young was the first one to open his tally with two stylish boundaries in the third over of the game. Young then went on to hit a four and a six in the fifth over, gathering 11 runs in Aryan Dutt's over.

Conway took charge from the sixth over and soon the Kiwis were hammering boundaries against the Dutch.

Roelof van der Merwe broke the 67-run partnership stand as Conway was caught in the deep off in the 13th over of the game.

The left-handed batter Rachin Ravindra then joined forces with Young to keep the New Zealand run flow alive. In the 20th over Young brought up his half-century in 59 balls.

Will Young's outstanding stay at the crease was cut short by Paul van Meekeren in the 27th over of the game. Young went back to the pavilion after scoring 70 runs off 80 deliveries. The right-handed batter Daryl Mitchell then came out to bat.

Mitchell opened his hands and slammed van Meekeren for 13 runs with the help of one boundary and maximum.

Roelof van der Merwe gave the Kiwis a big blow as Ravindra was dismissed after scoring 51 runs. Skipper Tom Latham then came out to bat and the batter opened his hands with back-to-back three off Bas de Leede's over.

The Netherlands bounced back in the game as they departed Mitchell (48), Glenn Phillips (4), Mark Chapman (5) and Latham, who slammed a fifty.

A half-century from Latham (53) and a cameo from Mitchell Santner (36* from 17) helped New Zealand post a competitive total of 322/7 at the end of their innings.

Brief score: New Zealand 322/7 (Will Young 70, Tom Latham 53; Roelof van der Merwe 2-56) vs Netherlands 223 (Colin Ackermann 69, Scott Edwards 30; Mitchell Santner 5-59).