11 November - Pune - Australia player Mitchell Marsh post-match press conference
[Reporter:]
Just comparing your century earlier in the tournament, where you looked really fired up when you got there, and compared to today, a bit more low-key. Just fair to say that the emotions were slightly different.
[Mitchell Marsh:]
It's always a great honour to score 100, but I was pretty cooked to be honest. I was just starting to cramp at that stage, so I was trying to keep my heart rate low and not exert too much energy. So, yeah, this one meant just as much as any other 100 that I've ever made.
[Reporter:]
As individually and as a group, what you guys set out to achieve today on the field, how it transpired actually? What you wanted to do today, considering you're already in the semi-finals, and what transpired on the field vis-a-vis that, whatever you wanted to achieve?
[Mitchell Marsh:]
Yeah, look, we wanted to win the match. Although we qualified for the semis before the game, it's a World Cup game, it's another game for our country and I guess it's all about keeping the standards high and coming away with a win. So, yeah, very happy.
[Reporter:]
We saw your second century of this World Cup. How do you feel about that and this, how the way you batted and you get full confidence before the semifinal? How do you feel about that?
[Mitchell Marsh:]
Yeah, it’s great to be able to score 100 in a winning team. I started at negative 50 after my bowling, so I had to get a few back. But, yeah, it's, as I said before, any time you score 100 for Australia, it's always a great feeling. We're obviously really excited about what lies ahead for us.
[Reporter:]
With these results, I think most probably Australia will meet South Africa in the semifinals. How do you feel about that? Before the most confident team, before the semifinals, I think Australia consider your team performance.
[Mitchell Marsh:]
Yeah, we're really excited. Semifinals, I think you look back to the start of the World Cup and a 9- one day game seems like a long way away. With the amount of improvement with all cricket teams around the world there's been not one easy game so to get to the semi-finals is great - but yeah, we're very excited about what lies ahead and the challenge that's ahead of us.
[Reporter:]
New Zealand almost chased down 389 against you. Afghanistan almost scored 300. Bangladesh scored 300 today. Do you think Australia as a bowling group has been a bit off colour, or do you consider it as normal considering the pitches in this World Cup?
[Mitchell Marsh:]
There's probably a number of things that that comes down to. There's been some really fat wickets and some small grounds. I didn't realise how small this one was, even though I played here a little bit. There's a lot of good teams out there, a lot of teams have chased down big totals so I think it's about having a mentality to keep taking wickets but understanding that when guys get on top that that's going to happen at this level and whatever's put in front of us, we try and chase it down.
[Reporter:]
Considering that it was a day game under hot sun and non-India game, also rather inconsequential game, how do you look at the crowd support and the atmosphere?
[Mitchell Marsh:]
Yeah, I think our crowd especially have been great the whole tournament. I'm not sure they actually come to watch us, it's either David Warner or Glenn Maxwell, so yeah you sort of feel a little bit left out, but we've been lucky we've had great crowds. When we're not playing against India, I feel like Australia always has really good support over here, and the fans are just amazing, so we feel very lucky.
In Pune in particular - Yeah, I thought that they're coming. I think this is Steve Smith's favourite ground in India. He says that regularly he loves batting here.
So yeah, we love coming here to play.