T20 world cup: Cricket News & Match Updates

Acknowledging the challenge posed by Afghanistan, Santner underlined the importance of starting the tournament strongly. “It was a good day. We knew coming in that Afghanistan are a threat and they showed that today. We knew it was a massive game for us today. Started the tournament off in the right spot. It was a pretty good performance. Pretty good wicket, but Afghanistan challenged us a lot throughout this game and as we thought they would,” he told broadcasters after the match.

Santner pointed to the need for a quick assessment of conditions, especially with varying start times and venues expected through the competition. “That's (assessing conditions) a massive part. It was a little bit sticky to start, I guess with the 11 o'clock start, and we're playing at 3 PM, 7 PM different grounds... that's going to be a massive thing for us and probably any team throughout the competition, to get a read on surface and conditions and assess what is the most effective ball,” he added.   Read More...