Gary Stead: Black Caps coach ahead of Champions Trophy semi-final

The Black Caps are two wins away from getting their hands on the Champions Trophy.

They're up against South Africa in the tournament's semifinals tomorrow at 10pm.

Head coach Gary Stead spoke to D'Arcy Waldegrave on Sportstalk.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sports Talk podcast with Darcy Wilder
Grave from News talks'ed be.

Speaker 2 (00:21):
A day out from the semi final of the Champions
Trophy one Day tournament and up against the South Africans.
We joined now.

Speaker 3 (00:30):
By black Caps head coach Gary Stead here on the
Sports Fix. Gary, Hy, Darcy, you'd be extraordinarily excited about
another semi final opportunity in an international and ICC event.

Speaker 2 (00:46):
This has almost become habitual, so comfort to a degree
for you and your team knowing what you face.

Speaker 4 (00:53):
Look, it's always nice to reach the stage of the tournament.
I think when you whenever you enter a tournament, you
know that if you get to the stage, you get
to the knockout type round. And in a tournament like
this week, I guess every result is important. It is
important you start well and I think our lead into

(01:14):
it was very good and the way we started against
Pakistan was great as well. So it puts you in,
I guess, on the right foot going into the tournament.
So look, we're really excited to be here. Whenever you
get to this stage, you've got I think four very
very deserving and very good teams that enter this final stage.
So we'll have an eye on the game today in

(01:36):
DEFs Australia, but sort of preparing also for what we
do tomorrow against South Africa.

Speaker 2 (01:41):
You talk about leading and preparation and you Zee and
cricket have been accused before of maybe not giving the
team the best chance to compete in some tournaments, not
this time around the lead up, the build up. I
don't know how pre planned that was, but if you're
in a position to do well there against the opposition
you've got it's on a plate for you.

Speaker 4 (02:01):
Gary, Yeah, it was very good prep. I mean the
tri series we had immediately before was timely. I think
if you look at the amount of Odieye cricket that's
been played before this by most countries, it hasn't been
a lot. So I think whenever you can get in
that same country and play on the same pitches that
we will play on, absolutely it's an advantage.

Speaker 2 (02:23):
You got beaten by Indie, which means you didn't have
to play Australia either, or you've got to beat two
teams to get through and win the trophy. But was
that a dulling almost? Was that almost necessary for your guys?

Speaker 4 (02:37):
I don't think so. I think for large parts of
that game. We actually played some really good cricket. I
said to the boys. I thought it was one of
the best fielding displays I've ever seen by a Black
catch unit. I thought there some sensational catching. I thought
we stuck really really well to our bowling plans as well,
and I mean just about on any pitch if you

(02:58):
can restrict that India team to two point fifty and
with a little bit of luck, it could have been
a few less if Andy didn't get going, for example
near the end. So I thought we bowled well. We
struggled a little bit with Varren Chatravaki as well, that
a lot of our players hadn't seen before or faced live,
and he's a bit of a unique spinner the way

(03:21):
he bowls. But I'm sure if we do play India
again in the future will be better for that experience
as well.

Speaker 2 (03:26):
Garristed joining us talking Champions Trophy cricket. What about the
new captain Mitch Santner. How's his I shouldn't really call
him an apprenticeship, but he's new in the role as
the full time captain of the one day side. How's
that development going for you and the team? And him.

Speaker 4 (03:44):
Look, I think Mitch has walked in reasonably seamlessly, to
be honest, He's obviously has a lot of experience. I
think he has a lot of mana within our dressing
room as well, and the way he's been leading the side,
I think his decision making on the field has been
on points. So look, I've been really happy with him.
I know the team's rulling around him helping where he is,

(04:04):
but he's still strong enough, intelligent and have to have
his own ideas out there and put his spin on
the game. So I think that's what you're looking for,
and a leader, you're looking for someone that will be
upfront and others and follow and I think his performances
have been standing up to that test.

Speaker 2 (04:19):
And he can be quite sneaky in his decision making too.
He's definitely his own captain and his own man. I
don't think he feels like he's carrying the weight of
captain's gone before he knows it's his opportunity to say, hey,
this is what I can do, and he's not afraid
of putting it out there.

Speaker 4 (04:33):
No, that's right, And as you say, Mitch is his
own man, He's got his own thought patterns around how
he wants to play, and I think he's reading the
game very well as well. And look, there's always small differences.
You might say, did you consider this, would you have
tried that? And when you have those conversations with Mitch,
he is thinking about them as well, So it's not

(04:54):
just a one way or a one style that he has.
He's adaptable and I guess malliaball as well. So look,
we are some very good conversations around the game, the
way it's been played and the way we want to
play as well. And I think on the whole we've
been sticking to that very well.

Speaker 2 (05:11):
Extraordinary, dangerous, dangerous to underestimate the strength of South Africa.
Very different team from the team that you played beforehand.
But I'm sure you're not going into just thinking their
records no good when it comes to semi finals. We've
got this. You've got to understand what they bring. So
on that, what do they bring? What are their big threats? Gary.

Speaker 4 (05:30):
Look, in my opinion, though one of the strongest teams
in the world at the moment, they are very very
well balanced. They have a very good mix of pace bowlers.
They have variety and their pace bowlers as well left arm,
right arm, tall skiadier bowlers, and then a couple of
spinners and Shamsi and Maharaj who are very skillful as well.

(05:50):
Their batting has a nice mix. I think also of
some power, the likes of a class and a miller
who finished games off, but also batsmanship at the top
to get them to scores. So look in many ways,
I look at them and look at the makeup of
our team and see that some real similarities between them
and the way the games are played. So my views,

(06:12):
it just comes down to winning key moments on the
field and holding your nerve under pressure, and that's certainly
something that we try and do every game, but I
think when you reach the semi final stage it becomes
even more important.

Speaker 1 (06:23):
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