24 March - Wellington - Bangladesh Captain Nigar Sultana pre-match press conference

Reporter: Would you start by telling us what you think about the match tomorrow against a very strong opposition. So how are you approaching the match?

Nigar Sultana: Yeah, we had a practice session today. We couldn't go out because of the rain but instead we did some practice indoors and obviously we’ll play against Australia for the first time, but still - We have a good bowling side and we'd like to come back and bounce back as a batting unit.

Reporter: So you think basically that the spin attack will be your strong point?

Nigar: Obviously they've been doing wonderfully well through the tournament. So still, we're hoping for a match tomorrow and they will click again.

Reporter: As you said it is the first game with Australia. You played with them before in a T20 although you didn't have a good performance. Australia is a stronger team in ODIs and so far they are a top team or top favourite in this World Cup and they are still unbeaten. When you play against such a strong opponent, and since you didn't have a good result in the last match, how prepared are you mentally and physically for this match actually?

Nigar: Our bowling unit is doing very well. So what we will do and what we need to work the most on is to fix our batting unit. So, it has become very important. It turns out that bowlers tried to restrict the opponents to a decent score in all the last matches we played but somehow we couldn't support them with our batting unit because the top order collapsed. So, those scores were not achievable or at least we could go even closer to those matches. Now we have discussed among ourselves how we can play or plan so that our batting unit can come back to the track. And now every one of us expects the batting to bounce back. Of course, Australia is the strongest team and so far they are in a very good position in the tournament. But still, I think that if we can do well in both units, I think we can fight them very well.

Reporter: What happens is that when you defeated Pakistan a few days ago, many from the boys' team praised you and said that they were inspired by your performance. You may know that the boys' team defeated South Africa in the series yesterday, and this result was unimaginable even a few days ago. No one thought that the Bangladesh boys team would win the away series in South Africa. Is it an inspiration to you here that you can also beat the big teams?

Nigar: I basically think that a particular day is very important. See, you cannot really predict what is going to happen in cricket. The game of cricket is a matter of momentum. The team which can actually get the momentum and can hold it and carry it till the end exactly on that day, and minimizes the mistakes (wins). It seems to me that the teams are no longer (known) only with the names. The game of cricket is no longer being played by name, it is performance-based as we all think. And I think, yes, of course, the Bangladesh team has done a great job. I congratulate them and there is always good wishes from our team. And there are many in our team who regularly follow the game of the Bangladesh team we watch regularly. Because we love cricket so much. So of course a good result and we get a positive vibe from there. We want to carry forward with those positive vibes.

Reporter: Well, another thing is the wind is very strong in Wellington. There is wind on all grounds of New Zealand but it's a bit stronger in Wellington and it becomes very tough for foreign teams who are not accustomed to it. I don't know how long you are staying in Wellington or how much you're accustomed to it. Actually, how accustomed are you as you said that you couldn't do the practice session today because of the rain?

Nigar: Yes, actually the weather here is windy, and we came here yesterday. Yesterday we were able to go to the field in the afternoon but we couldn't do much because it was raining outside. So far, as much as we know through analysts - our analysts are trying to give us as much information as they can. And there was a match today and I still don't know the result. Seeing that, as much knowledge as we can get now from there and after going to the field tomorrow, maybe we'll be able to understand more. We'll try to do a little knocking on the wicket or bat and then we can understand a bit of the behaviour of the wicket and we can adjust to the conditions.