Clarity in mind and winning those “little moments” that matter in a World Cup semi-final are the areas in focus for New Zealand going into their clash against South Africa at Eden Gardens on Wednesday.

“We’re pretty clear as to how we want to operate as Black Caps, and that’s both on and off the field. We don’t make things bigger than what they are, but we’re also very excited to be in this position and know how lucky we are to be here in a semi-final,” middle-order batsman Daryl Mitchell told New Zealand Cricket, after the Kiwis’ arrival in the city.

“We’re just looking forward to getting stuck into the contest, and trying to win little moments is something that we constantly speak about and hopefully, that means we’re heading off to a final in a few days’ time,” Mitchell stated.

New Zealand have been in India since the start of the year, having played a three-match ODI series, which they won with a depleted line-up and five T20Is across various venues in the build-up to this T20 World Cup. They are certainly banking on that experience, which has given them a pretty decent feel of the Indian conditions.

“We’ve spent a bit of time here in India in the last two months and I guess we know what conditions we’ll be coming up with,” said Mitchell.

The Black Caps had to play all their Super Eight matches in Sri Lanka, where the conditions are slightly different in the form of slower, sluggish pitches. “It’ll be different to what we’ve experienced in the last fortnight in Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan surfaces were a lot slower and a lot lower, and got quite difficult towards the back end of the innings,” Mitchell, a key member of New Zealand’s batting group, acknowledged.

“But I also think the guys will trust the preparation that we’ve had over the last few months and we’re just looking forward to getting stuck in.”

In the previous meeting between the two sides in the group phase in Ahmedabad, South Africa had beaten New Zealand comfortably by seven wickets. “They’ve been one of the best teams in the competition for a reason and they are where they are, so we’re really excited to take them on,” Mitchell said.

“Both teams are doing everything they can to try and move on to the next stage. For me, it’s just going to be really cool to get into a capacity crowd at Eden Gardens. It’s always pretty special,” he added.

Winning the ICC’s Player-of-the-Month award for January following his exploits against India in the Kiwis’ 2-1 ODI series win, Mitchell attributed it to team effort. “It’s also recognition as a team for the success we’ve had in January.

The ODI victory (in India) was historic for us as a country, because we had never done that before,” Mitchell said.