A new dawn for New Zealand

As Dawid Malan played a delightful drive through the covers, Glenn Phillips started sprinting in an attempt to stop the ball. It was well-timed and a gun fielder like Phillips couldn't stop it from reaching the boundary. He couldn't control his follow-through and ran into the advertising board. It seemed that Phillips had hurt himself. 

But to everyone's surprise, he took the field immediately and a few minutes later, he came to roll his arm for an over. 

This very incident pretty much sums up the New Zealand team - a team full of tough competitors. No matter how much you hurt them, they will somehow bounce back. 

Take the semifinal between England and New Zealand as an example. The Black Caps, in a tough chase, lost two of their key batters - Martin Guptill and Kane Williamson - early. The required rate started at 8.3 an over but New Zealand took 55 balls to reach the 50-run mark. Although there were wickets in hand, a New Zealand win didn't seem likely because the required rate kept on creeping up.

But it's New Zealand. They keep on finding these unlikely heroes - Grant Elliott in the 2015 World Cup and Daryl Mitchell in the ongoing tournament. In 2015, Elliott was having a quiet tournament but he fired at the right time and his six off Dale Steyn took New Zealand to the final. Mitchell's story is somewhat similar. He was given the role of opening the innings with Martin Guptill but he hadn't quite found his mojo.  Interestingly, Mitchell had never opened in T20s before the World Cup and is predominantly a middle over batter who bowls medium pace, just like Elliott. 

But the move of having him as an opener paid off finally. Just a few months ago, Devon Conway was asked to open the innings on his Test debut against England. He hadn't opened for more than three years in first-class cricket. But Conway didn't think twice and grabbed the opportunity. The result was much better than what everyone expected. New Zealand keep on playing these tactical masterstrokes. 

The Black Caps were knocked out of the 2014 ICC World T20 held in Bangladesh from the group stage. At that point, their only success in a global stage was the 2000 ICC knockout tournament win. They were yet to play the final of a World Cup let alone win one. 

Fast forward seven years and New Zealand qualified for the final in four out of six ICC events. A lot of credit goes to skipper Kane Williamson and the coaching staff but if you follow the team closely, you know very well that the key to their success is teamwork. New Zealand have so far won five games in the tournament and five different cricketers won the player-of-the-match awards - a perfect example of collective effort.

New Zealand have never been a very high-scoring team in white-ball cricket. They don't have ferocious hitters like Andre Russell or Liam Livingstone. So they have to always make sure they don't give away too many runs to their opponents. That's where a very important skill of the team comes into play.

Their catching has been outstanding in the tournament to say the least but what really stands out is the amount of runs they save every match. According to CricViz data, New Zealand have saved more runs than any other team on the field and that has made a huge difference. 

Another notable thing about their bowling is that they have bowlers who can boss specific phases of the game - Tim Southee in the powerplay, Ish Sodhi in the middle overs and Trent Boult in the slog overs. Southee's economy rate in the first six overs is 4.71, better than anyone else in the Super 12s. Ish Sodhi has taken nine wickets in the middle overs, only behind Adam Zampa (11) and his economy rate in this phase is just 6.63. Boult is known to be a better new-ball bowler but he has emerged as a master of death overs in this tournament. Only Pakistan's Haris Rauf has been more economical than Boult at the death and an economy rate of 6.92 in this phase is more than brilliant. 

Leading up to the tournament, there was one major concern for New Zealand. They don't have a proper all-rounder in the side with Mitchell, Phillips and Mark Chapman being primarily batters who can bowl. Jimmy Neesham is a capable player with both bat and ball and so a lot depended on his form.

And he delivered the goods just when his team needed it. He delivered a match-turning performance against Namibia and in the semifinal against England, he completely changed the momentum with a quickfire 27 off just 11 balls. 

Yet, he remained unfazed even after those two sixes hit by Mitchell, sitting like a rock in the dugout while everyone was jumping in jubilation. "Job finished? I don't think so," said Neesham because he knows they have another match left to win, another hurdle to overcome. 

In 2015, probably the emotions of being in the final were running high and it got the better of them. In 2019, they lost by 'the barest of all margins'. Finally, they found success in an ICC event final as they beat India in the ICC Test Championship final. The format may be different but it might just help New Zealand to overcome the mental barrier.

Before the start of the World Cup, many had India and Pakistan as favorites to qualify from Group two. Some even backed Afghanistan because of their brilliant spin attack. But it was New Zealand who punched above their heights in an ICC event, again. They are the number one team in Tests and ODIs right now and there is every chance of them claiming the top spot soon in the shortest format. It's not only about India, Australia, England anymore. New Zealand have arrived and a win in the T20 World Cup final will further confirm the rise of a team that has been traditionally tagged underdogs. 

NZ since 2015 in ICC events:

2015 World Cup: Runner-up

2016 T20 World Cup: Semifinalist

2017 Champions Trophy: Group stage

2019 World Cup: Runner-up

2021 World Test Championship: Champion 

2021 T20 World Cup: Finalist

NZ in ICC events since 2015:

Played: 45

Won: 30

Lost: 13

NR: 2

Win percentage: 69.76%