New Delhi: We find ourselves at the semi-final stage of a cricket World Cup. The final four. Just two matches away from being champions. And once again, among those teams is a familiar name in New Zealand, a country with a population of approximately 5.34 million people where rugby, not cricket, is a national religion.
But think back to any recent ICC World Cup and the Kiwis have played their hand, and played it well. New Zealand now hold the record for the most semi-final appearances in ICC Men’s World Cup history, reaching 14 in all (9 in ODIs and 4 in T20Is). India and Australia have the second-best record with 13 semi-finals each.
This tournament has been a bit of a mixed bag though. Rain, some middling performance and the manic nature of T20s have not seen them at their clinical best. But they are here, in with a chance… looking to reset; looking to make an impact as they go up against an unbeaten South Africa in Kolkata on Wednesday.
It’s a bit like Germany in the football World Cup. Regardless of form, come the big tournament, they just know how to make themselves tough to beat. As Gary Linekar once said, “Football is a simple game; 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans win.”
The wins, despite making it to so many semi-finals, hasn’t come along for New Zealand. But while the Germans are renowned for their resilience, the Kiwis, across generations, adopt a pragmatic approach. And always fightback when it appears all is lost.
On most days, New Zealand are about balance. As long as they play their game, the result almost feels secondary. They want to solve the problem in front of them but if they can’t, it’s fine.
“I think if you look historically at the Black Caps, you would probably say that they’re a team that have been great problem solvers, they are street smart, they find a way to understand the conditions quickly,” said NZ coach Rob Walter earlier in the tournament.
He added: “It’s certainly something we pride ourselves on. And when you are in the subcontinent and there’s different soil types on the same block, you are faced with different conditions all the time. And that’s the beauty of the game of cricket, isn’t it? It’s like nothing’s ever the same. And so, we want to keep being a side that responds quickly. We can adapt to conditions quickly and find a method. And that won’t change. That won’t change throughout.”
The core of the NZ philosophy, though, is how they rise above the individual. Cricket is a team sport and they play it like one.
As Daryl Mitchell recently told ESPNCricinfo, “That’s the cool thing about this New Zealand group: We all are in it together, constantly having conversations about “how do you do this?”. And we keep trying to add little facets to our game. That’s one of the main reasons why we’ve had some success.”
The understanding that they don’t quite have the same resources as some of the other teams around means that they have to make the most of what they have.
“Individual performance is only a contribution to something greater than yourself and that is the team,” former skipper Kane Williamson said in his press conference just after the 2019 ODI World Cup final, which they lost by the thinnest of margins. “The idea is that you are helping your team get across the line and the only thing you can perhaps think of… is what more I could have done.”
This is the first and foremost lesson that is passed down to any new member. Everybody is allowed to be themselves and when they all move together, they present a different problem each time. Just as they look for a solution, the opposition must too.
For instance, NZ’s highest wicket-taker in this tournament is Rachin Ravindra. His 9 wickets at a strike-rate of 8.6 have offset skipper Mitch Santner taking just 2 wickets at an SR of 60.
When asked about how Ravindra managed this, he said: “I’m not sure if it’s anything special, I think most of it is backing what we do and trusting our method… the communication between the spin group helps too.”
The greatness of New Zealand is that their collective often finds a way to beat genius, and even when it doesn’t, they’re content in the idea that they and everyone else watching had some fun.
As Williamson once said: “Laugh or cry, it’s your choice, isn’t it?”
