Rob Walter is once again placing his faith in New Zealand’s greatest strength, their ability to adapt under pressure, as they push for a place in the semi-finals. After shifting venues from India to the slower surfaces in Sri Lanka, questions emerged about how the Black Caps would adjust to the change in conditions. Concerns were heightened by the fact that they had not played competitive cricket for eight days.

However, New Zealand swiftly dismissed those doubts with a commanding 61-run victory over Sri Lanka. Rachin Ravindra played a pivotal role, contributing 32 runs and producing a match-defining spell of 4/27 to tighten the grip on Sri Lanka’s batting line-up.

"I think if you look historically at the Black Caps, you would probably say that they're a team that have been great problem solvers, they are street smart, they find a way to understand the conditions quickly," Walter said as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

"It's certainly something that we pride ourselves on. And when you are in the subcontinent and there's different soil types on the same block, you are faced with different conditions all the time. And that's the beauty of the game of cricket, isn't it? It's like nothing's ever the same.

And so we want to keep being a side that responds quickly,” he added.

Walter was particularly effusive in his praise of Mitchell Santner, describing him as a proper batter whose contributions often fly under the radar. After New Zealand lost their top order early, there was no sign of panic.

Instead, the lower order responded with composure and calculated aggression. Santner, alongside Cole McConchie, stitched together a crucial 84-run partnership that shifted the momentum decisively. Santner led the charge, smashing 47 off just 26 balls in a counterattacking knock that put Sri Lanka’s bowlers under pressure.

"There's a sort of psychology from a batting unit point of view when you can trust the middle to lower order, and know that if you do get into trouble, they can pull you out. He [Santner] is sort of understated, and flies under the radar.

And the next thing he's got four for nothing or scored 70 off nothing. And that's him,” said Walter.

"He's just got a wonderful skill set, but he's understated, doesn't draw any attention to himself. But he delivers, and has, throughout the summer, to be fair, delivered under pressure when the team has been under pressure. If you look at the skill range that he showed the other night and has shown on multiple occasions that he's a wonderful batsman, he's got great power, and he finds it quite effortlessly,” he added.

Despite New Zealand having the worst bowling strike rate and the fewest wickets among the final eight teams in the tournament, Walter is not overly concerned.

Walter emphasised that wicket-taking numbers alone do not tell the full story.

"In T20 cricket, sometimes restriction is as valuable as wickets. So from our point of view, taking wickets is just the end process of executing a skill, isn't it? It's about responding to the conditions, understanding what we need to do as a bowling unit, and then collectively doing it really. And whether that has a team seven down, or all out or two down, if we win the game, it's irrelevant, really,” said Walter.