21 March - Wellington - South Africa player Laura Wolvaardt pre-match press conference
Reporter
What are your thoughts on the pitch?
Laura
On the pitch, I guess all the wickets are pretty good. We heard that the ground that we're playing at has a really nice wicket that it comes on nicely. And so far on the nets that has happened, it has come off very well, so I'm hoping that it's the same in the game.
Reporter
Hi, Laura. It's been I think five years, or almost five years since you played Australia in a one dayer. But You've obviously played for WBBL. How much will that help the team prepare to play Australia?
Laura
I think it helps a lot. It's actually one of the sides that I guess we should be most prepared for because a lot of our girls have spent quite a lot of time playing against and in the same team as a lot of their players. But I guess it goes both ways. I guess we might know their games a bit better, but they might know ours a bit better as well. Having spent some time over there. So I think it's an advantage but I guess it gives them a bit of an advantage as well. So we'll see what happens.
Reporter
And how's the team gone about preparing for the conditions at the Basin especially with the wind that can be quite strong there?
Laura
Yeah. We heard Wellington is known for its wind. So it's definitely something that we have to have a look at. At both our practice sessions we have nice, still calm days, so I'm hoping the game day isn't like blowing really badly but I guess it's just something we'll have to adapt to in the situation.
Reporter
And just finally Darcy Brown's been bowling really well for Australia and you obviously know her very well from Adelaide Strikers. How are you preparing to come up against her with the new ball tomorrow?
Laura
Yeah, obviously she's been taking some wickets up front, getting that shape on the ball. So I think for me, it'll just be about getting through the first couple of overs, they have some world class bowlers and I have to respect the good balls and yeah, hopefully we can set up a big score for the side.
Reporter
Just wanted to ask about Lizelle Lee and you. You guys have been one of the top opening pairs going around in the world for the last few years, but Lee hasn't been able to fire so far in the tournament - on your partnership with her and what she brings to the table and especially her firing crucial going forward in the tournament because it's in the big stages of the world cup.
Laura
Yeah, Lizelle is a world class player. I really love batting with her and I feel like she takes a lot of pressure off me when we bat together. Because she's such an explosive player up front and it allows me to just back through the innings and do my own thing. She hasn't gotten a big score yet but she's gone out early twice and then one was run out which was a bit of a miscommunication. So I think it's cricket those things happen. Just a couple of months ago she was like averaging 90 or something so I don't think - none of us are too worried about her. I'm sure that she'll come right when it really matters.
Reporter
Just before the home series, South Africa had a big blow with Dane missing out. But since then, this team is come through with almost every player stepping up at one point or another. So how well the team has gelled in the last couple of months or so and bringing to the top performance almost every time.
Laura
Yeah, I think it's been good. We've have had some really tight situations. And I think stand-in captain Sune, Lisa has been really great as well, she's just really calm on the field. And I think that calmness is rubbing off on everyone, especially in those very tight games that we've had. So yeah, I think it's been good to see everyone stepping up.
Reporter
Australia seem to be on a roll. How are you approaching the match tomorrow and what can be your strong points?
Laura
Yeah, Australia, obviously they're a world class side, they're number one in the world so it's not a game that we're going to take lightly at all. I guess we just need to see it as every - as a normal game though. Just watch the ball one ball at a time. We can't go out there playing the player. Still just playing the ball and I don't think we've ever beaten them in ODI's so I think it's a great opportunity to do that. But yeah, we'll have to be on the top of our game.
Reporter
How much confidence have you guys gained winning these tight games? I mean, you haven't been playing your best cricket, but you've still managed to get over the line in all four of your games so far. So how much confidence have you gained as a unit going into what are going to be three really tightly contested matches.
Laura
Yeah, well, I think it's given us a bit of confidence in in tight situations. Knowing that we can hold our nerve well at the end there, or at least are trying to. Obviously it's not ideal. We wouldn't want to be in those situations again. Like especially the last game I feel like we could - we had opportunities to end the game a lot earlier in the chase. But just lost wickets at unfortunate times at the end there. So I think it's been good to see us getting over the line in those tight situations. But obviously going forward. I think we try to avoid those as much as we can because they can really go either way in the last over.
Reporter
You and Sune average over 60 as a batting partnership. You know what is it about batting with her that you enjoy the most and how do you guys I guess bring out the best in each other?
Laura
I think it's been good to bat with her, I think we both know each other very well. And just keep it really calm in the middle. We don't try and stress too much about the situation or anything. We just focus on building a partnership and trying to set up for the side. Yeah, I'm glad that we've been batting more together lately. And I've set up a couple of good chases for the team. So hopefully we can keep that average up there. Yeah.
Reporter
And just finally, you've spoken a lot about your conversion rate and how kind of frustrated you get not getting to the score of - is that something that's kind of playing on your mind now that you've gotten to the 60s and 70s, are you are you thinking about it at all? And if so, how have you planned to address it going forward?
Laura
It is something that I've thought about, it's not nice going out three times 70 - 60s and not quite getting to 100 when I really want to score a 100 in the World Cup - but I guess it's not the worst problem to have either. I could be sitting here with four ducks or something like that. So obviously a bit frustrating. And if I find myself in that situation again, I might just take a bit of extra focus or an extra second before I face the ball just to really make sure I'm watching it property. And yeah, hopefully it just comes right next game.