23 March - Christchurch - England player Sophia Dunkley pre-match press conference
Reporter: This is obviously the first group game at Christchurch. I believe you got a training session. So what have you made of the pitch and the ground?
Sophia: Yeah, we love it here at Christchurch, we played here a year ago in an ODI, and it's a great ground and yeah, pitch looks nice and the nets really good as well.
Reporter: And this is obviously also going to be the home of the final and one of the semifinals – is that added motivation for you to be back here in a week and a half time?
Sophia: 100% I think being here and look at the output and everything. It'd be great to be here in a week and a half time and I have to visualize that as well. But yeah, definitely really good motivation for that.
Reporter: Looking at the opposition with Pakistan coming off their first win in 13 years in a World Cup. Is this probably the most dangerous time to be playing them?
Sophia: Yeah, they played really well the other day and yeah, beat West Indies really well. So they've got a lot of good players in that team. So it's a game and obviously we need to win. Yeah, we're going to be looking out for them and making sure we can combat that.
Reporter: Do you see Pakistan as a dangerous side? And what will you be watching out for?
Sophia: I think Pakistan's Bowling attack was really good. They have got a lot of good spinners in their attack and we know there's going to be a lot of spin coming our way - so yeah, I think it's just playing that well as best as we can with the bat and yeah, putting in a good performance against them, but they've obviously come off with great win, so it will be challenging I'm sure.
Reporter: What do you think of the Pakistan fast bowlers?
Sophia: Yeah, the Pakistan fast bowlers again looked really good in games that we've watched on TV, especially going against West Indies last night. I know they're heavy on their spin attack, we've got to be careful with their seamers as well.
Reporter: In terms of your own form. You've got a few starts in this tournament – couple of 30’s, etc. What are you most looking for from the rest of the group games?
Sophia: I think for me, it'd be finishing games off and just getting that win clinically done. I think at the end of day we’ve lost a few wickets later on in the game in it puts a bit of pressure. So I think having it better that after that, at the end, we're definitely dealing with a lot of good so yeah, definitely finish few more games off going forward.
Reporter: With a place in the semifinals at stake. Are you under any kind of pressure?
Sophia: I think we're always under pressure a little bit throughout the World Cup because it is such a tight tournament but I think coming off two wins we're feeling pretty confident and we're in quite a good place. So yeah, looking forward to challenging, it's quite exciting opportunity.
Reporter: And you mentioned that the chase against New Zealand obviously I think if it would have gone slightly differently. It would have been a six wicket win, it was a very nerve wracking one wicket win – what do you think might have been behind that collapse and how as a team do you put things like that behind you ahead of the last two big games?
Sophia: I think Frankie Mackay came on and bowled a really good spell and I think she definitely deceived me with a quicker ball. There is not too much you can do about some of this. It was obviously quite rainy which changed the conditions as well. So there's a lot of factors that come into play. But I think going forward next time, it's just kind of how we deal with that pressure a bit differently and feel a bit calmer towards the back end. But I think we took a lot from it. So hopefully it's a good learning point for us.
Reporter: Do you think coming into two must win games already - Do you think that will serve the team well given that you're kind of halfway through this running for must win games this time in the tournament?
Sophia: Definitely. I think it almost felt like the last few games was actually semi -finals for us because has we lost it, it puts us in a terrible position really. So I think having those experiences and those feelings will be great. And yeah, hopefully we can get a couple more wins that are not as nerve racking and as close. But yeah, good to have that experience for sure.
Reporter: You mentioned nerve racking finishes. Obviously the tournament has been absolutely nerve racking finished across every game. And have you been watching the other games and if you have what does it say about the strength of women's cricket overall, that so many games are so close?
Sophia: Yeah, I've been watching quite a few of the other games on our days off and it's great to see that everyone's being really competitive and you know, obviously Australia and South Africa have been quite strong but around all the other teams, it's been no one - nobody know who's going to win each game which is great and obviously not been like that in the past. Yeah, it's great to see and only positive for the game I guess.
Reporter: Beginning of this tournament there was a nice moment when Bismah obviously celebrated with the Indian team and her young baby Fatima. Will you be hoping to have a hug with baby Fatima tomorrow? And how great is it that an international cricketer can go away, have a baby come back and play like Bismah has?
Sophia: I would love to have a hug with little Fatima, because she's so cute. But yeah, I think - it doesn't even – the words can't really describe how that must feel to have a baby then come back and play cricket. It's hard enough as it is not being pregnant. So yes, what an amazing achievement that is and obviously to get that win last night - or a couple of nights ago for Pakistan must be incredibly special. And I hope she had a good celebration with little Fatima.