Cricket World Cup hit by 'crazy' controversy amid New Zealand bowler's historic feat
Mitchell Santner became the first Kiwi spinner to take a five-wicket haul at a World Cup, but should he have had six?
New Zealand's win over Netherlands at the Cricket World Cup was rocked by some strange controversy on Monday, with a third umpire's decision labelled "crazy" by commentator Ian Smith. Mitchell Santner became the first Kiwi spinner to take a five-wicket haul at a World Cup, as the Black Caps won by 99 runs for their second consecutive win.
But many thought Santner actually should have had six wickets, after his dismissal of Sybrand Engelbrecht was overturned by the third umpire. Santner appeared to have Engelbrecht stumped, but the third umpire wanted a closer inspection of Tom Latham's actions behind the wicket.
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Replays showed Latham was incredibly close to taking the ball with his gloves in front of the stumps, which would constitute a no-ball. The third umpire eventually decided there was no daylight between gloves and stumps and called for on-field umpire Paul Reiffel to overturn the original decision.
But the decision didn't sit well with Kiwi great Smith, who could be heard saying "you are kidding" in the background. He then said: "As a former keeper that's the most bizarre thing I've ever seen. That is just crazy.
"When the ball went into his gloves they were clearly behind the stumps. They might have been initially in front but when the ball went into the gloves they were clearly behind the stumps."
In the end it mattered little, with New Zealand again overcoming the absence of captain Kane Williamson to rack up a big total of 7-322 on a slow, dry wicket. Top-order batters Will Young, stand-in skipper Latham and Rachin Ravindra all made half-centuries.
Santner, who made a quick-fire 36 not out off 17 balls, took 5-59 with his left-arm spin as the Netherlands were bowled out for 223 in 46.3 overs. It was the Netherlands' second consecutive defeat after losing their opener to Pakistan by 81 runs.
"We did a great job with the bat, built partnerships and put up a great score," Latham said. "Any time in the middle is valuable, partnership after partnership allowed us to put good runs on the board. The spinners were outstanding and the big boys did a great job up front and squeezed them."
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Ravindra, who made an unbeaten century in the Black Caps' opening game against England, backed it up with 51 on Monday. Daryl Mitchell, who made 48 after being dropped on 22, and Latham (53) put on 53 before the Netherlands hit back in the last powerplay with three quick wickets for 16 runs.
But Santner provided the Black Caps with a perfect finish, slamming Bas de Leede for two consecutive sixes in a last over that went for 23. New Zealand then dropped a couple of catches in the field, and Santner missed two of three run-out chances, but the Netherlands never threatened to chase the target down.
Colin Ackermann made 69 for the Dutch, but the fall of De Leede for 18 to a superb juggling catch by Trent Boult on the edge of the boundary took the game further away from the Netherlands. Santner baffled the Netherlands with his variations of pace, and after having O'Dowd 16 trapped lbw for 16 in his first spell, he returned to grab four more wickets.
Matt Henry brought the innings to a close and finished with 3-40. "New Zealand have got a quality bowling attack," said Netherlands captain Scott Edwards, who skied a return catch to Santner after scoring 30. "You are not going to chase down 320 with 40s and 50s ... we needed bigger partnerships."
with agencies
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