In total, New Zealand has lost seven of their eight Super Overs in T20Is.
“We love winning series for our country, but at the same time it’s about getting better as a group,” Mitchell said after the game. “We know we have a young group here at the moment, one that hasn’t played much international cricket yet.”
“I think it’s really cool to push the Asian Cup champions to a Super Over for some of the younger guys who haven’t played much cricket. For us, we’re just really proud to represent our country and try and make sure that we focus on winning the small moments and doing the things that we as Black Caps believe are our values.”
On the game itself, Mitchell was again pleased with how they handled proceedings and the chase in particular. With rain on the horizon – in fact there was quite a bit of drizzle towards the end of the game, although not enough to stop play – New Zealand’s pursuit was always heightened by the specter of the accompanying DLS target. But despite losing wickets – including two in the first two overs – along the way, and a solidly required rate on the cards, New Zealand were ahead of the DLS target for pretty much the entire chase.
Much of this was due to key cameos from the likes of Tom Latham, Mark Chapman, James Neesham and Rachin Ravindra, all of whom ensured that the Lankan bowlers were never allowed to top the table.
“For us…we make sure we focus on winning the little moments and doing the things that we believe Black Caps are our values.”
Mitchell after the Super Over loss
“At Eden Park, the deeper you take it, the more chance you have of catching up at the end, and we were really happy with where we were by staying with the DLS total all the way through,” said Mitchell .
“That’s kind of indicative of where we want to be when we’re chasing. I thought we were in a great position, and it was really cool to see people like Tom Latham and Mark Chapman come through the middle with that intent, and then Rachin (Ravindra) and (Ish) Sodhi do a job at the end.
“I think they’re going to take a lot of confidence away from doing that job and yeah, it was really good to see those guys step up.”
In the end it wasn’t enough, but for Mitchell this was more a matter of small margins than anything special to address.
“I thought about the way they bowl [Super] Over was very good, and I think when you lose a wicket early in the over it becomes a challenge to make sure you get enough runs to be competitive,” he said.
“And I thought the way [Adam] Milne bowled… those six [off the second ball], if it was two yards shorter, it is a wicket and play is on. So that’s the game we’re playing and yes, we were just a few small margins away today.
“But it’s a sport, there’s a winner and a loser, and we were on the other side today.”