New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner is happy to be out of the frying pan and in the fire. "I guess watching the Pakistan-Sri Lanka game was a pretty tough watch, pretty nervy at times," he said. New Zealand needed Pakistan to stumble in order to make this T20 World Cup semi-final. "I had a few other boys in my room and I had to leave because it was pretty tough."
Now that they're here, they're up against the only unbeaten side in the tournament, South Africa. The two sides met in the group stage two weeks ago, and for about 13 overs there was an even contest. Then New Zealand faded away. History stands against them too - seven wins in 19 T20Is.
"South Africa have a lot of power," Santner said. "I think the powerplay for us with the ball was where they really got away to a flyer. We haven't probably played the perfect game throughout this tournament. And I guess that's a good thing for us. If we can put it all together, it'll put us in a pretty good position."
Knockout matches change the equation though. New Zealand are 3-0 against South Africa in those settings at ICC events, although all of those wins were in 50-over cricket.
"I think for us, it's... everyone's goal throughout the tournament is to get to this stage," Santner said. "We're here now and we back ourselves on one-off games against most teams... being able to adapt as quick as we can to what's in front of us. South Africa look like a very good outfit, as they've shown. And I guess they're in the same boat as us now. It's one game in here until the final."
New Zealand's bowlers are going to come under a lot of pressure against the quickest scoring side in this T20 World Cup. "We know if you can get into that top order, but their middle order packs a lot of power as well," Santner said. "So it might not be trying to bowl them [out]. It might be trying to get in-and-out of overs and then... trying to... it might be that 180 is a good score instead of 220."
There's also the unknown that is the pitch and conditions at Eden Gardens. "We were looking at the wicket the other night [in the India-West Indies game] and it was pretty flat," Santner said. "I think there's still a role to play for the spinners. Also [the] seamers. And I think the ground dimensions as well plays a massive part in conditions.
"I mean, [in] Sri Lanka, we had a big side for both those games. We [the bowlers] can try and get it to that [bigger] side, whereas it's [the boundaries] a little bit smaller here [at Eden Gardens], but [the pitch is] more central. So, again, it's adapting on the fly."
As much as players try to get into their zone ahead of such an important game, Santner felt sympathy for the people affected by the west Asia crisis, including teams who were part of this T20 World Cup but have been delayed getting home.
"I guess it is a challenge," he said. "I mean, everyone's not too far away from the news, whether it's on your phone or TV and you're kind of seeing what's going on. So I think, at the end of the day, I think we're pretty safe here. And we have a massive game tomorrow.
"So what we can do today is prepare for this game tomorrow and then go out there and try to put on a bit of a show for people to come out and watch the game."