"India controlled the…" - Mitchell Santner blames Dubai pitch after loss in CT 2025

Mitchell Santner-led New Zealand National Cricket Team locked horns with the Rohit Sharma-led India National Cricket Team in the final group stage match of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 on Sunday, March 2.

The Black Caps fought well against the Indian team at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium but ended up losing the match by a big margin of 44 runs.

Also Read: Varun Chakravarthy reveals how Rohit, Kohli helped him bag historic 5-fer vs NZ in CT 2025

It was a slower wicket than what we have come against - Mitchell Santner

New Zealand won the toss and chose to bowl first in the match. The Kiwi bowlers reduced India to 30/3 before Shreyas Iyer and Axar Patel staged a comeback. However, they kept picking wickets at regular intervals and restricted India to 249/9 in 50 overs.

Chasing the target, New Zealand were off to a decent start, and Kane Williamson, with his brilliant fifty, kept them in the hunt. However, after his dismissal for 81 in the 41st over, things went off the track for the Black Caps, and they got folded for 205 in 45.3 overs.

Speaking after the match, Mitchell Santner blamed the slow nature of Dubai's pitch for their loss and said that India controlled the middle phase of the match better than them. Mitchell Santner said:

"It was a slower wicket than what we have come against. We knew that going in. India controlled the middle phase better. Shreyas played a great knock that was finished off well by Hardik."

It spun a bit more than we thought - Mitchell Santner

Mitchell Santner added that the surface provided more help to spinners than they expected and India had a quality attack to get the job done. He said:

"It spun a bit more than we thought, and they squeezed us well with four quality spinners. The key for us was getting wickets in the powerplay, and that was good to see."

While talking about their semi-final opponents South Africa, Mitchell Santner said that the pacers would come into play in that game and was excited for the game. He said:

"Our next game is in Lahore where Henry will be massive. (On facing South Africa) On those wickets with some pace and bounce, they have four good pacers so we will have to see how we play them. We have to wait and see if it is a used surface or a fresh one."

How Did New Zealand Perform in the Previous ODI Match Against India?

New Zealand put up a good fight in their previous ODI match against India during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 semi-final at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. However, they lost by 70 runs and exited the tournament.

After being invited to bowl first, New Zealand struggled to find early breakthroughs against the dominant Indian team. Tim Southee (3/100) was the only bowler to make an impact, dismissing Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Suryakumar Yadav, but he was way too expensive.

Trent Boult, Mitchell Santner, and the rest of the bowlers failed to control the flow of runs as Indian batsmen - Kohli (117), Shreyas Iyer (105), and Shubman Gill (80*) - took the game away and piled up a massive 397/4 on the board.

Chasing the total, New Zealand’s top order crumbled under pressure, with Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra falling early to Mohammed Shami.

Captain Kane Williamson (69) tried to steady the innings but he too fell to Shami. Meanwhile, the highlight of New Zealand’s batting was Daryl Mitchell’s performance as the all-rounder smashed a fighting 134 runs off 119 balls to keep the Kiwis in the hunt.

Glenn Phillips (41 off 33) provided some support to Mitchell, but their required run rate kept climbing and they were eventually bowled out for 327 in 48.5 overs. Mohammed Shami was New Zealand’s biggest nightmare as he bagged a record-breaking seven wicket-haul (7/57).