ICC Cricket World Cup: Mitchell Santner Re-Writes Record Books With Five-Wicket Haul

Hyderabad (Telangana) [India] : New Zealand all-rounder Mitchell Santner levelled with Kiwi legend Daniel Vettori to have the joint most ODI five-wicket hauls as a spinner for his country and became only the third left-arm spinner to get a fifer in ICC Cricket World Cup.

Santner achieved this feat during New Zealand’s World Cup match against the Netherlands.

In the match, the all-rounder was at his very best. After playing a cameo of 36* in 17 balls with three fours and two sixes, Santner destroyed the Netherlands batting line-up and had figures of 5/59 in 10 overs. He was given the Player of the Match award for his performance.

Vettori and Santner are the only Kiwi spinners to have two five-wicket hauls and one each is by Matthew Hart and Ish Sodhi.

After Yuvraj Singh’s 5/31 against Ireland in the 2011 World Cup and Shakib Al Hasan’s 5/29 against Afghanistan in the 2019 edition of the tournament, Santner is the third left-arm spinner to have a five-wicket haul in a World Cup.

Santner has also registered sixth-best figures by a New Zealand bowler in ICC Cricket World Cup history. The best figures are by pacer Tim Southee against England in the 2015 World Cup, in which he took 7/33. Santner also registered the best figures by a NZ spinner in the tournament’s history.

The all-rounder also became only fifth player to register a double of five wickets and 30-plus runs in a World Cup match, with Kapil Dev (5/43 and 40 against Australia, 1983), Andy Bichel (7/20 and 34* against England, 2003), Yuvraj Singh (5/31 and 50* against Ireland, 2011), Shakib Al Hasan (5/29 and 51 against Bangladesh, 2019) are other players to do so.

Santner also registered second-best bowling figures by a Kiwi bowler in India, after Matthew Hart’s 5/22 against West Indies in 1994.