‘Pretty cooked…numbed with beer…little sore’ – Mitchell Santner’s three stages of glee | Cricket News

New Zealand hero Mitchell Santner had not been part of the Black Caps side that enjoyed rare spinning wickets at Hamilton and Wellington, earlier this year. And the white ball reveller, who bagged just 1 wicket against Sri Lanka earlier, knew Test cricket was going to be one right grind.
The 29 overs at Pune in NZ’s match and series winning run, left the left arm slow bowler, thoroughly knackered.
Stuff.co.nz quoted Santner as saying he was “pretty cooked” throughout his 13-157 marathon spell, and was glad he had additional time to recover for Mumbai’s Friday start after the Test win was wrapped up in 3 days.
“Last night, I was numbing it with a few beers, but this morning, it’s a little bit sore. It’s ideal that that test only went three days. Everyone can have a few extra days off, which is nice. I guess it took a toll on the rig. Hopefully, give it a couple days, and it should be good to go,” he was quoted as saying the day after, adding he had to manage the side soreness from early in his spell, but “felt a little better” with each wicket he took.
Tests have been a challenge for Santner, which makes his performance more creditable. “I’ve been in and out (of the test side) and to get these conditions and put in a shift like that is pleasing,” Santner was quoted Stuff.co.nz as saying. “To do it against India, beat them at their own game. That was the most pleasing thing for us in that second test. In Bengaluru we got the best of conditions, especially at the start. After that it was a grind. Here, we out-spun them and outplayed them in their home conditions.”