‘We are just a bunch of Kiwis taking on the world…..’ – Daryl Mitchell’s ‘Batting Hill’ reprise | Cricket News
They came. They played simple cricket. And they conquered. But nothing in New Zealand’s assured bearing smacked of arrogance over the greatness of the feat – a 3-0 absolute smashing of India who were showed up, playing at home.
None typified the classic Black Caps team person mentality better than Daryl Mitchell who picked the Player of the Match Trophy after top-scoring with 82 in the first innings off 129 balls with 3 boundaries and 3 sixes, right when Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar were threatening to pull one back after New Zealand took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series.
New Zealand conceded a 28-run lead and Shubman Gill got a 90 for India. But Mitchell’s multi utility lay in other areas. He ended the match pouching 4 catches – more than both keepers put together, with an absolute ace shift at first slip, ensuring Ajaz Patel and Glenn Philips could absolutely let his spin rip.
Mitchell helped send back Gill, Ravindra Jadeja and the dangerous R Ashwin, and was instrumental in Kohli being cut short in the second essay, as Patel’s love affair with Mumbai extended.
Speaking at the presentation, Mitchell, son of a Rug All Black, would say, “We’re just a bunch of Kiwis taking on the world… doing things that Kiwis do.” It was as fine a rephrasing of Notting Hill’s Julia Roberts line to Hugh Grant, as a sporting romance between Kiwis and cricket could allow.
New Zealand blanked India 3-0 after denying them a salvaging win 25 runs in the third Test. The cricket team has consently punched above its weight in international cricket.
