10 March - Tauranga - South Africa player Chloe Tyron pre-match press conference
Reporter: I just want to know that Coach Hilton Moreeng said at the end of the last game that the performance against Bangladesh was a little bit sloppy. What was the conversations like this week within the team and the intensity at training in terms of wanting to improve against Pakistan tomorrow?
Chloe: Well, yeah, it was definitely under par. We did discuss thoroughly, that we weren't happy with our batting performance. Yeah, we didn't take responsibility up the order and we felt that we just needed the partnerships, and we didn't do that enough. And, yeah, we just had to find ways to get off strike and I felt that we struggled with that quite a bit. So we definitely worked on that after having those conversations going to next sessions of making sure we kind of finding ways - as we looked at the wicket it was a little bit slow but we still have to try to kind of find a way and try and look to make 270 plus on these wickets so yeah, definitely a lot of pointers that we got on in the last game but I think we kind of worked on quite a bit of that at training.
You beat Pakistan at home last time and they lost both the games - does that come into any effect tomorrow or does that actually just make them more dangerous? Because if they lose, then they know that they are in a lot of trouble going forward in this tournament?
Chloe: Listen, we’ve played enough cricket against them to know what we're up against. They're really a good squad. We don't want to take anything for granted. So, we just have to make sure that we’re playing our best crickets tomorrow, and we kind of just make sure that if we tick our boxes we can end up on top. But yeah, we just need to make sure that we kind of really in - we kind of play our best cricket tomorrow we played enough cricket against them to know they do have players that take the game away from us. So yeah, just making sure that we do the right thing and yeah, get up on top tomorrow.
Reporter: My first question is – to Zahir’s question. You really started off with a shaky start against Bangladesh. Are you confident ahead of this game? Knowing that you guys do have a decent record against them.
Chloe: Yeah, like I said earlier, we were under par. I don't know if it was the first game of the World Cup and just a little bit of the nerves. But we kind of have that out of the way now and we can't really focus too much on that right now. We've been successful against Pakistan, which has been great. So, we'll take all those parts that work for us in their games and take it forward to tomorrow's game.
Reporter: My other question – Lizelle Lee is expected to be back – is she fully fit? She has been away for a long period of time.
Chloe: Now, well, it's great to have Lizelle back here. I know she'd been working really hard back home. So it's exciting to have her again the group, she's a world class player. We just have to see if she's going to play but yeah, it's just really exciting to have her here and be part of the squad.
Reporter: My question is my personal - you've had kind of a frustrating couple of years with a lot of injuries being ruled out of series - can you talk to us about the work that you've put in behind the scenes to kind of come back so much fitter for this World Cup?
Chloe: Yeah, it's been a bit of a struggle the last couple of years. Yeah, a little bit up and down of injuries. A lot of frustration on my side regarding that, but yeah, I kind of just made sure once I recovered from my last injury, I just worked really hard, I worked on my skill a lot - I knew the World Cup was around the corner. So I kind of sacrificed a lot of time back home just making sure I was doing the right things, and I feel like it's really been paying off. I've worked really hard building up to this world cup so I'm hoping to score more runs and take more wickets, but yeah, so far I'm happy with how I'm going so far.
Reporter: And also about your role with the ball. In the absence of Dane - you're obviously going to probably play a bigger role with the ball, with your left arm spin especially on surfaces which seem to aid the slower bowlers - so how much work have you put in on your bowling and, you know, are you excited about that extra responsibility with the ball?
Chloe: Yeah, I'm really excited. It's a nice role to take up. It's big shoes to fill in, especially with Dane not being here - but yeah, just kind of to make sure that I'm doing the right things. I've worked really hard on it on the offseason and back home just after I recovered from my injury. So for me, it's just about getting as consistent as I can. These conditions, it looks like it could work a little bit more on my advantage. So just making sure that I'm kind of doing the right things and hopefully I can take more wickets but I'm really excited to take in that extra role and take the extra responsibility.
Reporter: So you guys played match two of the tournament and tomorrow's match nine – for the tournament standard that’s actually pretty long gap. So what's it like trying to keep sharp and match sharp for a match tomorrow while also being really fresh and having that big gap in between your games?
Chloe: Yeah, it's a big gap. We've been watching a lot of cricket, which has been good. But just making sure that when we do our work, we do it at 200%. And then when we kind of off the field, we kind of just switch off a little bit which has been great. Because we really enjoy that time just making sure we kind of get from away from the game as well. We know it's a long tournament. So, we kind of just make sure that we were still doing 100% and still being as fit as possible, so we kind of just have to make sure and manage ourselves really well. But the girls seem like they're doing really well which is nice to see and they know their bodies and what they can do and cannot do, so it's nice to see that everyone's just kind of taking a break from that as well. But when it comes to doing training and everything they're doing to about 200%.
Reporter: And maybe just as a casual observer, what have you made of the tournament so far, like there's been a lot of close games. I think I can only really think of one off the top of my head that hasn't been somewhat close. How good is it to be involved with the tournament and what have you kind of made from it from the outside?
Chloe: Well, to start a tournament like that is a fantastic way to go down to the last over - which is really good. Yeah, it's a fantastic tournament. I'm really looking forward to this for a long time and to see games going down like it is really good. You’re playing the best in the world and you can see everyone really wants to win this World Cup and I'm excited to see the rest of it. I expect big scores and that's what's happening at the moment which is great. And yeah, it's just girls showcasing their skills and you can see the hard work they put behind it - so it's nice to see that this one has been going good so far.
Reporter: I wanted to ask, you spoke about the extra responsibility with the ball – I just wanted to ask – about the same with the bat – given the experienced middle order that you have with Mignon, Marizanne and you at 4-5-6 – what does these three batters, what they bring to the table and especially your role in that middle order. Could you elaborate a bit on that? Your role in the experienced middle order and additional responsibility with the bat.
Chloe: Yeah, well, we kind of have to make sure that we come in and rotate strike as much as we can. I think it was nice to see that even though Marizanne and I came in early, in our first game, we still kind of built really good partnerships and kind of rotate strike as much as we can. We also want to make sure that that score board is sticking a lot in the middle overs. Yeah, we don't want to going into the last 10 overs still being at 3-4 runs an over - we've kind of have to make sure that that run rate goes up. So whether we come in a little bit early, a little bit late, just making sure that we kind of get the scoreboard ticking as much as we can and bowling really good partnerships and taking it towards the end. Because then we know we can kind of clear the ropes at the end. So yeah, we do need it to make sure that we’re doing kind of doing that in the middle and taking the game towards the end. I think if any of us stay towards the end, we're putting up big totals. So yeah.
Reporter: Just wanted to ask - you guys were playing in- or ladies are playing almost a double header with England coming up as well. What have you made of the conditions and especially with it being two day- nighters?
Chloe: Yeah, we watched a little bit of cricket. Yeah, I know. Pakistan have played most of their games here already – yeah it’s a little bit slower. Does a little something in the night, does turn up quite a bit in the night as well. So yeah, we're just fortunate enough to watch them play. Yeah. And can kind of see the [inaudible] as well, a little bit quick - there's a bigger boundary. So we expected on a little bit more. But it's nice to get time out from our first game to be watching quite a bit of cricket. But yeah, we can expect quite a little bit from the spinners in the night if they get a chance to bowl in the night. So just a couple pointers that we took from their last games and yeah, just looking forward to playing
Reporter: Going into the makeup of your side, at the moment you guys go with four specialist batters, thee all-rounders and then the team is at the back. Just in terms of the batting unit, is there talk around playing possibly extra batters, like previously you played 7 batters - a longer batting line up?
Chloe: Yeah, I know. Yeah. it would be nice to play another batter but at the end of the day. The batting line up we do have is quality and we've had chats about taking responsibility and accountability out there in the middle and making sure if a partnership is broken, we kind of rebuild again. So, I don't necessarily think that we need to add an extra batter. I don't think it's any of our concern after our first game. I do feel that it was a bit of nerves, but of execution areas, but I don't think it's a big issue at the moment. I think that the lineup that we have is really good and really strong. And I think we'll just grow from strength to strength as the tournament goes on.