Daryl Mitchell celebrates with Ish Sodhi after beating England.
Daryl Mitchell celebrates with Ish Sodhi after beating England.
Earlier in the Twenty20 World Cup, after he had top-scored in a victory over India, Daryl Mitchell called his wife Amy at home in Christchurch.
"Who would have thought this would be happening?" Mitchell exclaimed, excited at the reality of opening the batting for his country at the World Cup.
Now, after Mitchell was the hero in the Black Caps' semifinal win over England, excitement will surely turn to elation on his next call home.
Mitchell's unbeaten 72 off 47 balls blasted the Black Caps into the World Cup final – not a bad effort for a player who had never opened in any competitive cricket before he arrived in the UAE.
Given the chance to audition for the role in warm-up matches, Mitchell impressed, and made the role his own by top-scoring in the first two group games against Pakistan and India.
That was only a glimpse of the heroics to come in the semifinal. Having rebuilt the Black Caps' innings from 13-2 after three overs in a chase of 167, Mitchell sat on 46 off 40 balls with three overs remaining.
Two overs later, he had added a further 26 off seven balls, and the Black Caps were into the World Cup final.
Daryl Mitchell celebrates hitting the winning runs to beat England. Photo / Getty
Mitchell pinpointed the rebuild – adding 82 runs in a third-wicket partnership with Devon Conway – as pivotal to victory.
"We tried to hang in there as long as we could, we knew that one or two big overs would bring us back into the game.
"Once the rate gets up a bit, you start just trying to make sure that you get your matchups that work for you and you're trying to hit as far as you can. We didn't lose too many wickets in the middle there and it allowed us to take some risks at certain times to try and catch up."
That required run rate reached 14.25 runs per over with four overs remaining, but Mitchell always felt they had a chance.
"It never felt like it was out of our grasp. Especially with that smaller side boundary on one side, we knew that there were going to be matchups there that might suit us towards the end, and look, we were obviously very lucky at times; a couple sailed over the ropes that could have been a metre shorter and we're out, but at the same time we always knew that as long as we kept just within the certain numbers that we felt comfortable with, that we were always a chance."
Daryl Mitchell celebrates with Ish Sodhi after beating England.
Jimmy Neesham's cameo – 27 off 11 balls – provided the Black Caps with the big over they were hoping for, as 23 runs came from Chris Jordan's 17th over.
"The way Neesh came in and struck it as clean as he did - it was amazing and helped us put England under pressure. He played a hell of a knock."
From there, Mitchell finished it off, continuing a remarkable tournament for an opener who had never opened before, and a remarkable rise for a player who didn't make his international debut until he was 27.
"It's a great honour to represent my country at a World Cup.
