What makes New Zealand a very dangerous side is how they adapt to different surfaces. They are used to pace-friendly pitches at home, but even on typical subcontinent tracks, India have been on the receiving end on many occasions in recent times.. The highlight of India’s performance was Kishan’s batting in the final T20I at Thiruvananthapuram’s Greenfield International Stadium (Representative photo). First, the Kiwis had a clean sweep against India in the Test series in late 2024, and then beat them in the recent ODI series. The debacle in the ODIs was followed by a five-match T20I series, seen as the build-up for this T20 World Cup. Naturally, the Indian team management was nervous. Another hammering at the hands of the Mitchell Santner-led side would have been disastrous for the confidence of the home side.. Left-arm spinner Santner has been a big threat to India for a long time. In India’s opening match of the 2016 World Cup at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur, he picked 4/11 to bowl India out for 79 and hand New Zealand a 47-run win. From the current team, Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah were part of the playing XI.. To the delight of the home fans, the T20 team hammered the daylights out of New Zealand, winning four of the five matches by comprehensive margins. The feature of the domination was how the Indian batters took down the threat of the Kiwi spinners in that 4-1 victory. As a result of their batters’ super show, India will go into the World Cup final holding a psychological edge over Santner and Co.. Also Read: Against Zimbabwe, Surya’s India face moment of reckoning. Abhishek Sharma had set the tone with a 35-ball 84, and the introduction of Ishan Kishan gave India a further boost in that bilateral series. In four matches, the left-handed Sharma went on to amass 215 runs, averaging 53.75, at a strike rate of 231.18.. The highlight of India’s performance was Kishan’s batting in the final T20I at Thiruvananthapuram’s Greenfield International Stadium. After losing three games in a row, the wily Santner had bowled superbly in the fourth T20I at Visakhapatnam to pull one back with a three-wicket (3/26) man-of-the-match performance.. The confidence gained by the Kiwis, however, was neutralised in stunning fashion by Kishan. The diminutive batter hammered a blazing 43-ball 103 with 10 sixes at a strike rate of 239.53. Santner had forgettable figures of 4-0-60-1 at an economy rate of 15, finishing as the most expensive bowler in the game.. Kishan was only supposed to be a backup player at the start of the series. The hundred is where Kishan got back into the team.. Santner is a very smart operator who has every trick in the book. In this kind of form, the NZ captain figured out that Kishan is unstoppable. He is getting to the spinners by getting into position early and taking his foot to the pitch of the ball.. It is no secret that the top-order batter favours the leg side more. In that game, Santner used