21 March - Wellington - Australia player Beth Mooney pre-match press conference
Reporter
Can I just ask what have you made of South Africa? I mean, they're also unbeaten. Did you predict them to be the most likely challengers to Australia at the World Cup so far?
Beth
I think yes and no, everyone at this World Cup has been an absolute challenge. You can't just look at one team and think that they're going to run away with the competition. As we've seen. There's been a high percent of games going into that lost over so certainly South Africa have shown that they can win those close games, which, obviously it's been really impressive, and they look like they've been playing a really consistent brand of cricket as well. So yeah, essentially, tomorrow's a huge game for us just like every other game in this World Cup.
Reporter
What do you want to see in the last two games given you've qualified already? Is it just keep the foot down to the pedal? What is it you want to get out of these last two fixtures?
Beth
Yeah, absolutely. I think towards this back end of this competition, you want to gather as much momentum as you can leading into the semis and potentially a final so we've shown that we've got the depth within the squad to make sure we're pushing the letter a bit and competing as world class team. So tomorrow, will be no different for us, I'm sure we'll put our best team out in the park, even though we have locked in that semifinal game. Obviously we still want to make a huge statement leading into that semifinal as well. So I'm sure you'll see the best to the Australian team across the next two games.
Reporter
You haven't played South Africa in the ODI for almost five years and I think it's been just the one T20 across that period. So how important will your experience against them in the WBBL be when it comes to preparing to play against them?
Beth
Yeah it’s a huge point that got raised, in our meeting just before training. Obviously, South Africa have been on a bit of a run and played a lot of consistent cricket across those five years against you know, some world class opponents as well. Unfortunately, we haven't had too much of an opportunity to come up against them - they've shown they've got a world class bowling attack as well as batters that can win the game for them, but we're pretty, pretty confident with the intel we have both playing with them in WBBL, and playing against some of the girls in that team that have been around for a long period of time. So certainly will be sharing that information amongst ourselves between the batting and the bowling unit and understanding that whilst we know what we're coming up against it's always going to be a challenge against a team that's playing well and with confidence.
Reporter
And just personally, are you excited at the prospect of coming up against Marizanne - having played with her quite recently?
Beth
Yes, slightly scared as well. We've seen what she can do with the bat and the ball and how competitive she is and that fiery nature she brings to contest so looking forward to coming up against her this game and hopefully we can keep her a little bit quiet. And then she has been in in the last couple of games, but she's also shown she's always the one that puts her hand up for South Africa. So as I said, hopefully we can keep her a little bit quiet and get on top of them early.
Reporter
You guys have found yourself in a couple of crunch situations over the last couple of months. What have you enjoyed about playing with T Mac and being at the middle with it?
Beth
Yeah, I think TMac has obviously come into her own in the last 12 to 18 months and she's an unbelievable player that's only just showing her skill set in the international scene. So hopefully we can see it for a number of years. I think I probably underestimate sometimes just how mature she is and probably put her on the spot a little bit in that game yesterday when she said I'll get you back on strike in that last over as much as I can. And I sort of just said, Nah, don't do that. I'm not hitting the ball that well and she looked a bit shell shocked when I gave her that response. So I had to quickly change my tune and say I was hitting it very well. But no, she's a very mature cricketer. I know she's got a lot to offer this group both on and off the field and it's just really exciting to see players like - we've been on the edge of this team for a really long time. Just come straight in and absolutely dominate and perform and hopefully as I said she can do that for a long time to come.
Reporter
And how are you feeling about your own batting in your own game at the moment you've pulled in some ripping catches over the last couple of weeks?
Beth
Yeah, it's been nice to contribute in different ways. Obviously, our batting lineup is such an elite top four that I haven't had to do too much of the heavy lifting, which has been nice, but also. Yeah, obviously you want to spend as much time out in the middle as you can. But I also love the fact that I get to put my feet up and watch those girls go about their business and break the back of those run chases really nicely. So to be able to contribute in the field is important to me as well. And thankfully Meg, Midge and I've been doing okay behind the bat there.
Reporter
And do you enjoy sort of that finish attack, or did you enjoy the pressure of coming out to bat - the other night?
Beth
Yes and no, Rachel, I spent a little bit of time talking about you know, the fact that we both enjoy batting at number five just because you can - you don't know what situation you're going to come into. She chose that role in t20 cricket but I remember saying to her after the game the other day I want to open again because it was a little bit too stressful for me having to nail that game at the end. But yeah, it's exciting. It's challenging. There's certainly a lot of pressure that gets added especially when games get that tight but at the same time, I thrive off the fact that there's always an opportunity to learn and challenge myself in that position
Reporter
The first one is just around the prospect of playing Shabnim Ismail. Obviously, a lot spoken about Kathy that what are your thoughts? How do you kind of combat her pace as well?
Beth
Yeah, as a batting unit we spoke about coming up against Ismail and Kathy - they’re probably two form opening bowlers in the world at the moment. And we spoke about that against India as well with Jhulan Goswami and Meghna Singh so we know that the threat in most teams is up front and having to nullify that a lot. We also have played a few games here at the Basin and understand that’s a pretty quick wicket - you know, taking our medicine when we have to but absolutely, understanding that the second those bowlers of that class missed their deadline on their length a little bit which isn't that often that we have to cash in - so not a whole lot changes for our batting unit. I don't think - as I said before the girls have been doing an outstanding job up the top, breaking the back of those chases and getting us in positions where we can build a strong total to defend so I'm sure we'll say more of the same tomorrow against some competitors in Kathy and Ismail.
Reporter
Between Ishmael and Darcy Brown to of the fastest bowlers going head to head out here tomorrow. How exciting is that for I guess the game broadly to be able to see them in action.
Beth
I think it's hugely exciting. Obviously. We don't see too much pace in women's cricket. We're starting to see a lot more of it now which is always challenging as a batter but just as a pure fan of the game whether you're batting or bowling, it's so exciting to watch. People go about their business, especially people like Darcy and Shrub, who can swing the ball like they do so and bowl with raw pace. So I'm sure it will be a serious contest tomorrow and really looking forward to it.
Reporter
My question is more than the reflection of last five years - does it feel like this particular tournament? You guys have been building for this for five years with the changes that are made in the team with batting lineups. You at five, Rachel going in opening with a variety of bowlers that have been introduced. You think that the buildup has been there for five years and you've been clinically planning it?
Beth
Yeah, I think you know, obviously, we've played a lot of cricket in that five year window especially T20 Cricket but that's been able to translate into some good form in one day cricket as well. As I said at the start of the interview, every team comes to a World Cup wanting to win every game. We're no different. We certainly don't think that any game is a walk in the park over here because as we've seen throughout this tournament, the gap around world cricket is getting smaller and smaller. There's team's absolutely competing and fighting till the end. And tomorrow and Friday when we come up against Bangladesh is going to be no different but certainly we feel like we've got a group of players and a squad of players and staff that are doing all the right things to make sure that we leave no stone unturned when we get on that plane back to Australia whenever that might be so, it's a really exciting couple of weeks coming up for this group. And something that we've been preparing for obviously a really long time just like everyone else, but just keen to see what happens and what will be will be.