16 March - Tauranga - England player Anya Shrubsole post-match press conference
Reporter: Looking at the performances, you must feel pretty perfect, particularly in a must win game.
Anya: Yeah, I just want to say first and foremost because I've seen in here I just want to congratulate Jhulan on 250 ODI wickets- it’s an incredible achievement and she's a legend of the game and I think it's her 200th game next game she plays, so just want to congratulate her first and foremost but yeah obviously really pleasing to get a word on the board with a pretty good performance and hopefully this is kind of obviously the start of some wins. It's wonderful that we know we need to win and so yeah, really pleased to put on that performance today.
Reporter: Talking about your own milestone, how pleased are you to have got to that number?
Anya: I'm obviously really pleased. I think if kind of never really would have dreamed of hitting that when I made my debut - so I'm obviously pleased about that. But I'm most pleased about I guess being able to contribute to the team and I thought as a group we bowled really well- obviously the way Charlie Dean bowled was amazing. Sophie Ecclestone was incredible again and we showed a bit more what we're about in the field - make no secrets about how poor we've been in the field, when I think today was a much closer mark to where we are.
Reporter: My question for you is what was the talk in changes regarding England’s game plan, because we saw you and Katherine Brunt trying to put fuller deliveries. So what were the changes in the game plan as far as the first 10 overs is concerned?
Anya: There wasn’t a huge amount talked about - I think there was obviously a bit of swing on off at first up and generally speaking if you've got that then you want to try and bowl a bit fuller and make good use of that. So I think Katherine bowled really well up top and we were able to take three wickets in the powerplay, which I think really set us on our way - so there wasn't any, I guess specific discussions massively about what lengths to bowl but it was obviously about utilizing the swing that was there first up.
Reporter: How important is it to now get this win especially this being the first official victory since you landed in Australia almost a couple of months ago?
Anya: Obviously it’s been a while since we've won and I think we've obviously - can't make any secrets about that. It's been obviously a tricky tour, but we came into this game basically knowing that we needed to win our next four games to give us a chance. So it's obviously really nice to get the win on the board to play well. But this is kind of one of four really that we need to win and we've managed to do it today and we'll obviously celebrate the win and then it's about getting to Auckland and turning our focus to the New Zealand game.
Reporter: My question for you was – you took out the number two and three batters for India today. And numbers two, three and four have been a problem for India in this tournament so far - so what were your plans for India's number two, three and four batters leading into the match? If you could tell a little about that?
Anya: We obviously - we plan every game and the opposition that we're coming up against and we obviously played against India in the summer back in England. So we've got plenty of I guess footage and intel on them and we're pretty confident coming into the game with our plans that we could obviously tie them down and get them out and obviously today it worked out and like I said I think what we do really well as a unit when we're on song is put pressure on teams and I think that kind of showed with the run out of Deepti - that was just a lot of pressure. And yeah, we're just really pleased with the way we came out and executed and we're gonna have to do the same in the next three games.
Reporter: Do you feel that you've put the fielding mistakes that have crept into the last couple of performances to bed today?
Anya: I really hope so. I think we're gonna have to - like I said, we're gonna have to do all the same things before the next game and not take things for granted. But I think fielding can often be a kind of confidence thing, and I think -like I've said before, I think that's much closer to where we're at as a team. We haven't shied away from the fact that we've been really poor in the field in the first three games, the last two in particular, and it's potentially cost us some wins. So it was really nice to put some of that right today and hopefully it's a step in the right direction for us moving forward.
Reporter: Anya - last time I asked you about Eminem song and here my question is in the same line - you said the song you had played that day was Cleaning out my Closet - today against India on a personal level does it feel like it's empty without you when you take the first wicket of the match and for team does it feel like it's more on the lines of – you're going to dig deep and this is your - till I collapse moment from the other Eminem song?
Anya: Love the Eminem questions – Heather and I actually may be rapped on the way out to the field for the Australia game after you asked me that question. So obviously for us as a team, it's a massive step in the right direction. Like I said, it's one win of four basically that we need to win to give ourselves a chance. So yes, we'll obviously celebrate and we're really happy that we've won, but we've again in the same way that you do when you lose, even when you win - you've got to move on pretty quick. And get ready for the next game.
Reporter: Yes. So how motivating is this victory? You know, considering the circumstances that the team was in having lost the first three games - how sort of fired up was the team going into this game?
Anya: I think we want to win every game of cricket that we play - we're here representing England, and we take a huge amount of pride in that and we're here to win every game that we play. So yes, we're obviously motivated, but I wouldn't say we're any more motivated than the three games that we lost and the three games that that we're about to play with, obviously. And I guess we're motivated by wanting to put some things right that we feel like we haven't, I guess achieved in this tournament so far and everyone will individually have their own, I guess their own motivations. So yeah, we obviously wanted to come out here and win and that just goes without saying that's how we approach every single game. And yeah, I guess it's about us wanting to give a true reflection of ourselves as a team, which we feel like we haven't done at times throughout this tournament, and I feel like we did more so today.
Reporter: The net run rate is going to come into play pretty clearly later in the tournament. Was there any discussion in the innings break about how many overs you want to chase down the total in and as a group are you happy with the way you went about the chase?
Anya: There was no discussion at all about how quickly we wanted to chase it down - we've obviously lost the first three games so it's all about getting over the line. That run rate you think about further down the line when you know anything, but ultimately if we lost this game, then we were probably out the tournament, so that was never - it was absolutely never a discussion. And yeah, I think it was a tricky-ish pitch to score on and I think, obviously, relatively low scoring game and it was just about – World Cup cricket in particular is just about getting over the line and I think the way that Heather batted taking responsibility to see us there. I don't think there's any necessary - I don't we need to go into how we went about chasing it. We chased it and I think that's all that really matters.
Reporter: I just wanted to ask you a little bit more about the conversations you had or the things that you guys did to turn around the fielding performance without letting the pressure get to you?
Anya: Yeah, million dollar questions. Well, it's obviously something we've had conversations about throughout this tournament, and we haven't, I guess, haven't quite been able to put the finger on exactly what it was, I think. I do think - sometimes fielding it just seems to be something that kind of spreads and if you kind of drop the first catch in the game - lots of things seem to go from there. So we've obviously had discussions about it. We had two really good training sessions before the South Africa game and I think if you do that over a long enough period, if you train really well, work really hard over a long enough period, it starts to show - so I think, yeah, obviously the catch that Dunk took pretty early on in the game, I think really set us on our way and it's just about coming into each game and just trying to be really positive and take the positive option and I think, almost kind of I guess fake confidence until you kind of feel it - if that's what you need to do. But yeah, I think that was much closer to what we're like as a fielding unit out there today.
Reporter: I'm gonna ask you about your personal - I mean, you didn't have the best start to the tournament. You were a little unlucky as well. How did you reflect on those performances and how pleased are you with the way you’ve bowled in the last couple of games?
Anya: It was obviously a tricky start to the tournament, I guess for us as a team and definitely for me personally, I don't feel like I bowled particularly badly against Australia, definitely wasn't anywhere near where I would like to be against the West Indies and yeah, I guess it takes some honest reflection, some honest conversations with coaches and things like that and just I guess, willing to making things as simple as possible. I'm definitely someone who - when I feel like I'm struggling I tend to overthink I think too much and make things far too complicated. So yeah, I guess credit to Lisa. She kind of pulled me aside and tried to I guess really simplify things for me and just concentrate on I guess running in and bowling and making it as simple as that. So I'm obviously really pleased to have kind of turned things around a bit - but like I said before, most importantly, I just want to contribute to this team winning, so it's always really nice when you feel like you've been able to do that.
Reporter: Anya - obviously three early wickets and just a word on those two wickets that Charlie got in her first over and how happy you are for Charlie Dean to taking four wickets today?
Anya: Yeah, I'm absolutely buzzing for Charlie – this is obviously the first World Cup - 20 I think she is- 20- 21 to come and to bowl as well as she did in obviously what was a really high pressure game - two wickets in her first over and just really I guess backed up the early wickets that we've taken so much like I'm over the moon for Dean - she's someone who's really popular amongst this group - a seriously talented cricketer and hopefully is going to be taken wickets in World Cup for England for years to come.