Cricket: Black Caps spinners set to extend starring role

Luke Ronchi celebrates with spinner Mitchell Santner and skipper Kane Williamson. Photo / Getty

Black Caps wicketkeeper Luke Ronchi is expecting spin to come to the fore once more against Bangladesh tomorrow night.

The Black Caps spin duo of Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi have been two of the team's standout performers so far, and another spin-friendly pitch is set to be on the cards at Kolkata.

Ronchi is preparing to be standing up the stumps for a long period.

"I'm expecting it to be a turner again - back to the lower, slower type of pitches we've been playing on so far.

"It's going to be tough against Bangladesh and the spinners they've got but our spinners have been doing a fantastic job so it's going to be a good contest."

Santner has been one of the tournament's stars, taking eight wickets including figures of 4-11 against India, while Sodhi has picked up six economical scalps.

Ronchi has been enjoying observing their work from behind the stumps.

"It's been awesome, the best seat in the house I think. The last game Mitch didn't start the way he wanted to but finished it off beautifully, and Ish has been fantastic the whole way through so it's been a lot of fun and the pitches we've been playing on have been turning is making it even more enjoyable for me."

Batting opportunities have been limited for Ronchi so far, but he realises his role requirements, looking to score at a rapid strike rate.

"You always want to do more and help out as much as possible. My job is to go out there and to try and score as quick as possible or get the batsman that's in on strike."

While the result against Bangladesh is irrelevant to making the semifinals, the Black Caps obviously are keen to continue their unbeaten run.

"We want to keep going with the form we've been showing and get a roll going, Twenty20 cricket can be pretty fickle and things can change pretty quickly so we want to be doing the right things the whole way through."

The clash starts at 10.30pm tomorrow night.