The New Zealand opener, Daryl Mitchell was the hero of the New Zealand side against England as he played a match-winning knock of 72* off 47 deliveries. His knock helped Kane Williamson and his men defeat the England team in the first semifinal of the 2021 edition of the T20 World Cup.

During the run chase, there was a moment where Mitchell had a collision with Adil Rashid and refused to run a single. This incident took place in the 18th over of the New Zealand innings. Mitchell revealed that he had got in the way of Adil Rashid, and as a result, did not want to become the guy who created some controversy, and hence he decided not to take the run.

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Adding that the Kiwis play the game in the right spirit, Daryl Mitchell said that he is lucky that his decision to turn down the single did not adversely affect the Kiwis as far as the result of the match is concerned.

After the game, Daryl Mitchell said, “I thought I probably got in the way of Rashid a little bit and I didn’t want to be the guy that caused a bit of a controversy, so I was happy to just (turn down the single). We all play the game in good spirit and I just felt like it was probably my fault so as opposed to try and take a run, it was better off to start again and carry on. I’m lucky that it didn’t make a difference (to the result).”

Daryl Mitchell also added that he considers himself very lucky to have played for the country. The right-handed Kiwi opener concluded by stating that he was lucky to get 7-8 years of experience in domestic cricket before he made his international debut. 

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Mitchell said, “Yeah I guess I consider myself very lucky to play for New Zealand, having debuted at 27. To be able to get 7-8 years of domestic cricket under my belt before playing for New Zealand, I actually consider myself very lucky.”