New Zealand won’t make things bigger than they are, said Daryl Mitchell on Monday, sharing that they will rely on their recent experience of playing in India for the T20 World Cup semifinal as well. New Zealand will play against last edition’s runners-up, South Africa, in the first semifinal in Kolkata on Wednesday, and Mitchell said that they have complete clarity over how they want to play as well.
“We’re pretty clear how we want to operate as Black Caps and that’s both on and off the field. We don’t make things bigger than what they are, but we’re also very excited to be in this position and know how lucky we are to be here in a semifinal,” Daryl Mitchell told New Zealand Cricket.
“Just looking forward to getting stuck into the contest. Trying to win little moments is something that we constantly speak about, and hopefully that means we’re heading off to a final in a few days’ time,” he again said.
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However, New Zealand have been in India since the start of the year, having played a three-match ODI and a five-match T20I series across various venues in the build-up to the tournament as well.
Mitchell also said New Zealand will look to bank on that experience as well.
“We’ve spent a bit of time here in India in the last two months and I guess we know what conditions we’ll be coming up with,” said Mitchell. “It’ll be different to what we’ve experienced in the last fortnight in Sri Lanka. But also I think the guys will trust the preparation that we’ve had over the last few months and are just looking forward to getting stuck in. I would say the Sri Lankan surfaces were a lot slower and a lot lower and got quite difficult towards the back end of innings.”
However, New Zealand had earlier lost their group-stage match to South Africa by seven wickets as well.
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“They’ve been one of the best teams in the competition for a reason and they are where they are, so we’re really excited to take them on, even here in Kolkata in the semi-final of the World Cup. Both teams are doing everything they can to try and move on to the next stage. For me, it’s just going to be really cool to get into a full crowd at Eden Gardens. It’s always pretty special,” Daryl Mitchell again added.
Mitchell also named the Player-of-the-Month for January after his knocks against India in the ODI series, which New Zealand won 2-1 as well.
“It’s nice. It’s also recognition as a team for the success we’ve had in the month of January in 2026, as the ODI India series victory was historic for us as a country, having never done that before,” Daryl Mitchell concluded.
