17 March - Hamilton - New Zealand Captain Sophie Devine post-match press conference
Reporter: Could you just talk to us about the kind of conversations that were going on in the middle, especially in the last couple of hours between you, Amy and Frankie.
Sophie: Yeah look, I think there's a lot of conversations there about how we wanted to bowl and how we wanted to keep Kapp on strike. Field search, making sure we had people in the right spots – there is 50 conversations that have to go on pretty quickly. And again, you can troll through footage, you can go back over that game ball by ball and find a million different ways to do things. So again, it's heartbreaking to not get across the line there. But, our tournament certainly isn't over yet. So, again, another learning curve for us.
Reporter: Sophie commiserations bloody disappointing loss. I know all of us Kiwi fans has just gone crazy over the TV at home. How frustrating is that to be so close and at a crucial point in the tournament and then that be taken away from you?
Sophie: Oh look, I think it's really similar to the West Indies game. I think we've got to take the positives out of it. I thought we're probably - if we're honest, 30 or 40 runs short there with the bat, and the way that we scraped back and I felt the way that Amelia bowled through the middle there and swung the match back in our favor and we clawed our way back. So we've got to focus on the positives. Because I think, you know, if we dwell too long on the negatives, or what we could have done differently, it's going to be a pretty miserable dressing room. So for us, it's about looking at the learnings that we can take from that game moving forward into England on Sunday, but also, yeah, there's a lot of positives that we can take out of today.
Reporter: And you must be pleased with the bowlers, particularly in the last 20 overs including yourself, Amelia Kerr, Frankie Mackay, taking those crucial wickets in - there was definitely a big momentum swing.
Sophie: Yeah, absolutely. And like the crowd was fantastic as well. They certainly found their voice towards that back half of the innings which was certainly felt out in the middle. And you're right I thought the bowler stood up brilliant - I thought Hannah Rowe actually was probably pick of the bowlers to me, I thought she gave them nothing and you know, had great variation. So again, it's a real positive for us as the way that the bowler stood up there when you know I guess our back was probably against the wall a little bit. So you know, huge credit has to go to our bowlers, it's now just how we can get across the line.
Reporter: And just finally, I know emotions are really high right now but you've got to do or die match against England on Sunday at Eden Park - what's the message leading into that game?
Sophie: Look we’ve probably got to let today – settle a little bit - the tournament runs through pretty quickly. But for us, it's about moving on really, really fast. We'll take the learnings out of today, we’ll Refresh and Reset, get up the motorway tomorrow morning and get into Auckland and well we know Eden Park really well. It's a great cricket ground. So we're just really excited about the challenge that's coming up for us.
Reporter: Can you please comment on South Africa’s bowling as they restricted you guys to under 230 and were you confident to be able to defend the score with the Africans having players such as Sune and Marizanne?
Sophie: Oh, absolutely. We spoke a lot about the South African bowlers we know the threat that they have, certainly there seam attack is one of the best going round in the world. So I guess you probably saw with our approach at the start of the innings was to really soak up that pressure and I thought we did it brilliantly. I guess myself and Amelia being able to probably have a few more dots than we'd normally like and into I guess less the run rate. It was certainly the blueprint for us.
But I guess the backend was disappointing for us, I think with the platform that that we laid, probably we're looking at 250 plus and we certainly knew that 220 - 229 was actually going to be enough. We thought it was a tricky wicket that you never really fell in – that there was enough doing on that pitch that if we bowled well that we could certainly restrict them and we came bloody close. So again, we've got a look at the positives of that.
Reporter: This puts you in a very tough situation now - a must win against the England, a side looking to win the remaining games – what do you do from here?
Sophie: We win – it’s pretty simple for us. It's we win the rest of our games. We certainly need it. The whole way through this tournament. Every win. Every game is so crucial for us. So nothing's different for us. Absolutely. There might be a bit more outside noise, might be a bit more pressure externally but we certainly know what's on the line and we don't need I guess any help reminding us about it.
Reporter: South Africa has a very good record against New Zealand recently? I'm just wondering what you've seen in terms of their progression from the last time you played them to this time and do find that they're a slightly different team or is it just a case of same old same old?
Sophie: No certainly I think they've grown, I think they're probably a dark horse within world cricket at the moment. I think they've probably got one of the most experienced sides going around. I think you saw -a huge congratulations to Mignon on playing her 150th ODI’s. I mean it's that's a huge achievement and they've got players with real experience all the way through their side. And I think we certainly faced that a couple of years ago when they came over here. We were missing a few players and we weren't at our best and then they you know, I guess dealt with us to be honest. So look, they fully deserve I guess the way that they've played this tournament – they’re certainly showing I guess the form that makes them I guess the number two ranked side in the world.
Reporter: What do you have to do to beat England?
Sophie: Score one more run than them – it’s generally how cricket works, funnily enough, but I think we've played good cricket probably 70 - 80% of the time. It's just that final 20%. We know World Cup pressure is on, we know that every ball is you know - something's on the line. So we're really close, two more runs and we win that game. So yeah, again, we'll look at the positives going to move forward quickly. Obviously head out to Auckland tomorrow and it's about resetting and looking forward because it's another really exciting opportunity to play at home in front of hopefully a really big crowd at Eden Park.
Reporter: And last question. How do these close games affect your heart?
Sophie: Probably the same as you – yeah certainly get a little bit stressed there and a little bit anxious but look I think - Frankie actually had spoken there in the drinks break - the second drinks break that how lucky we are to be involved in these sort of games and where else would you rather be? And she’s right. I think it's such a privilege to be able to be playing in this tournament World Cup at home and to be in those sort of pressured situations. That's what we do all those horrific trainings in the middle of winter, you know, slamming the pavement - so it's for those moments out there and absolutely look - we would want to come out on the right side, but we didn't so we've got to learn and we'll grow as a team for that.
Reporter: Would you change anything tactically and was there a reason why just didn't bowl out the overs?
Sophie: Yeah, Again, it's probably one of those ones where we could look back for footage and make a few different decisions I probably need a bit of time to sit back and reflect on that and talk with the coaches and other players of what would we have done things differently, you know, just as really effective. Yeah, it's a really tough one to answer I could have done something differently but in the same breath, I guess, you know, we're one or two wickets away from winning that game.
Reporter: I just wanted to ask you about your own innings. The fact that you got out just at the start of the last 10, But you also just faced 100 balls In the first 40 - Is that something that was planned or would you have like to face a little more in the first 40?
Sophie: Well, Susie actually got out early unfortunately, but my batting - I think I've spoken about it that we wanted to absorb the pressure early from South African bowlers and I thought we did that well. I mean, my and Melia really built a good partnership and Maddy and myself as well. It was disappointing to get out when I did, it was certainly getting into party time for me to sort of do all that hard work to cash in towards the back end of the innings. So disappointing to get out when I did and obviously probably triggered a little bit of a collapse there. So we speak at length for this group about someone in the top four, top five batting through to the 50th over so you know, tonight that was probably me, I should have put my hand up and done that - but again, crickets a funny game, you can look back over every ball, every run and do things differently. So we're going to have to dust ourselves off and get going for England.
Reporter: I just wanted to get your thoughts on Marizanne’s innings today and one of the best fast balling allrounders in the world. So just your thoughts on how she has evolved from the last World Cup to this World Cup?
Sophie: Well, I think she is an extraordinary athlete. I think she's super talented with bat and ball – we saw her today with the ball that she just doesn't give you anything really and she certainly wears her heart on her sleeve and with the bat there I think that just shows your experience. I guess I've had the pleasure of playing alongside the Scorchers earlier in the summer and I saw firsthand I guess how dedicated she is to wanting to be better and wanting to help your team win and you know, she certainly put her hand up tonight and I guess finished the job for them. So look, she's a great player. I'd certainly love to have her on my team. But you know, I'm really proud of our group.