Hamilton, Nov 1 (IANS) New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner etched his name in the record books on Sunday, becoming his country’s most capped player in men’s T20Is with his 143rd appearance during the fifth and final match against India here at Seddon Park.
The left-arm spinner surpassed fellow bowler Ish Sodhi, who previously held the record with 142 T20I appearances for the Black Caps. Santner, who made his T20I debut in 2015, reached the milestone after more than a decade of representing New Zealand in the shortest format.
Santner now leads the list of New Zealand’s most-capped T20I players, followed by Sodhi with 142 appearances. Former fast bowler Tim Southee occupies the third position with 126 matches, while former opener Martin Guptill is fourth with 122 appearances. Daryl Mitchell completes the top five with 109 T20I matches for the country.
The 34-year-old has made significant contributions with both bat and ball during his international career. In his 143 T20I appearances, he has scored 1,117 runs at an average of 20.30, including a highest score of 77 not out. With the ball, he has claimed 151 wickets at an average of 23.09, with the best figures of 4/11.
Santner recently achieved another milestone in the format, becoming only the third New Zealand bowler to claim 150 T20I wickets. He reached the landmark during the fourth T20I against India on Friday, returning figures of 2/24 in four overs and dismissing Axar Patel and Nitish Kumar Reddy.
However, the milestone appearance in Hamilton did not bring him a wicket, as Santner conceded 39 runs in his four overs during India’s innings.
India, who had already sealed the five-match series with an unassailable 3-1 lead after winning three consecutive matches, were asked to bat first after New Zealand won the toss.
Ishan Kishan (61) and Shreyas Iyer (50) led India’s recovery with half-centuries after the visitors lost Abhishek Sharma (1) and Sanju Samson (4) early. The duo added 93 runs for the third wicket to put India back on track.
Naman Dhir contributed 33 runs, while Nitish Kumar Reddy chipped in with 22 as India finished at 191/8.
Fast bowler Adam Milne was the standout performer for New Zealand, claiming four wickets for 19 runs in his four overs. Nathan Smith and Blair Tickner picked up two wickets apiece to restrict the visitors from crossing the 200-run mark.
–IANS
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