New Delhi: New Zealand hope their experience of playing in five matches in India prior to the T20 World Cup will booster their championship ambitions.

The Kiwis take on South Africa in the first semi-final in Kolkata’s Eden Gardens on Wednesday, with Daryl Mitchell saying they have devised a plan on how to approach the knockout match.

“We’re pretty clear 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 semifinal,” Mitchell told New Zealand Cricket.

“Just looking forward to getting stuck into the contest, 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.”

New Zealand played three ODIs and five T20Is in India before start of the T20 World Cup and Mitchell hopes to use that experience to good effect after playing their group games in Sri Lanka.

“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,” Mitchell said.

“It’ll be different to what we’ve experienced in the last fortnight in Sri Lanka. But also I think guys will trust the preparation that we’ve had over the last few months and just looking forward to getting stuck in.

“I would say the Sri Lankan surfaces were a lot slower and a lot lower and got it quite difficult towards the back end of innings.”

The Black Caps had lost to South Africa by seven wickets in the group stage and will look to make amends in the last four clash.

“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. Even here in Kolkata in the semi-final of the World Cup,” he 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 full crowd at Eden Gardens. It’s always pretty special.”