New Zealand left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner feels getting more batting opportunities in the last 12 months has improved his ‘power game’ and helped him play productive innings. Santner hit his third ODI half-century on Wednesday and shared a 162-run seventh-wicket partnership with Michael Bracewell as New Zealand edged closer to their target in the first ODI against India in Hyderabad.

Batting at number eight, his strategy was very simple that he would hit sixes from the very first ball. Like the rest of the New Zealand batsmen, he faced the spinners at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh Stadium on Friday and tried to hit most of the deliveries out of the park.

On the eve of the second ODI, Santner said, “As an all-rounder, you have to contribute in both the departments (bowling and batting). Since last year itself, I have been getting a lot of opportunities to bat which has helped. Sometimes when you are at the bottom it becomes very challenging because you have just three or four overs left.

He said, “While batting at number seven and eight, you have to hit from the very first ball. You train for the role right now and I try to do the same in the nets and try to hit sixes. When you have more time to bat, you can spend more time in your innings.

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Santner said, “Sometimes when you come to the crease, there are only 15 overs left and sometimes only two overs are left. But you should know how to play in both.