9 March - Dunedin - England Captain Heather Knight post-match press conference
Reporter: Hard luck on the defeat - your first thoughts on how does a team bounce back from a defeat like that and how do you how do you respond to a defeat like that going forward into the tournament?
Heather: Yeah, I think first and foremost we can't linger on it too much and a lot of things that we can do a lot better at the game and make sure we're focused on the next one I think – not to make too much of ourselves, but no way we’re out of this World Cup yet so we have to focus on the next game. Get what we can from this game, park it and move on ready for the next game against South Africa.
Reporter: You bowled today - my question is- was the decision taken given the condition - or you were always going to bowl in today’s match?
Heather: I'm always an option to bowl – it’s just trying to get the right matchups in time work out what’s most effective on the wicket. I think the wicket was probably a bit more conducive to spin a little bit harder when it was slow – so opportunity for me to bowl – I probably haven’t done as much as I previously – recently so yeah, it was quite nice to get a bit of bowl – felt good, felt like it was coming off quite nicely - which is good, but I'm certainly always an option particularly when we play 5 bowlers, I'm that sixth options. So I'm always prepared to bowl in games and just find the right time for when I do that.
Reporter: Could you talk us through a little bit at the end - it seemed as though Sophie and Kate Cross were batting things relaxed and I guess you guys thought you had it in the bag and then it just swung so wildly as it had done throughout the match. What were the emotions going through the camp at that point?
Heather: Yeah, it was a brilliant partnership wasn't it- we were obviously in a very tricky position but we were back our tail. Sophie – Frey have worked so hard on their batting and its quite nice to see them get their awards for the work they've done. Yeah, they did seem really calm. They kept it very simple and they just tried to take off the tail - We had enough time in terms of balls left. So I think the way they played was outstanding, showed real fight, obviously we don't want to be in that position. But that’s cricket – it swings quite quickly - losing - breaking that partnership and losing that last one. Just a bit frustrating, but it wasn't that last 10-15 minutes that lost us the game. Ultimately, we've been in a few position where we found ourselves with our backs against the wall, where we've had to go and fight and then we've done that- but ultimately we don't want to be in that position in first place.
Reporter: I was wondering you can see there the 63 runs from last seven overs- what went wrong in the death?
Heather: Well our batters - and I thought that partnership in the middle was very good for them. They didn't score too quickly in the middle but we struggled to take wickets and obviously a few drop catches and things like that didn't help our cause, and when there are two set batters - it can be quite tricky. I think we were clear on our plans and we just didn't quite execute at times. I think they squirted a few way and bought that momentum a little bit – and then they finished pretty strongly but it's something we definitely can do better, I think against Australia, the last loss – 10 overs where they had set batters in - it was quite tough to defend. So yeah, it's certainly something we'll look at and look to keep improving our back end stuff - because in the Ashes we didn't really have that, that real death that we probably had in those last few games. So it's making sure as a bowlers we're really clear we've got clarity on what our plans are and where we want the batters to hit us.
Reporter: Yeah. So just if you have to look back at this match, and work on the corrections going forward. Obviously, you spoke a little bit about the death bowling, but at 225 in the halfway point, did it feel like par score - or did you feel like you let them get away with too much - considering how the pitch was? At the start just how do you look at that part of the play in terms of your takeaways from this match?
Heather: Yeah, well, purely looking at the pitch, I think it was below par. It was a very good wicket - obviously they got off to a bit of a flyer and put real pressure on our bowlers and pressure on our length. So I think we would have taken that at the start of the day and backed ourselves to chase it. We are obviously with the bat, we lost those wickets in clusters, which made it tricky, but I think some of the partnerships we had at the back end down in Dunkley and then at [inaudible 5:50] you could see it was reasonably decent to score - say I think we were pretty happy with that. Obviously, they got a few more than we wanted to - with a few things that we can control like our fielding and actions and things like that, but you know, we back ourselves to chase on most days.
Reporter: In that sense - how frustrating is it to let the momentum slip after the kind of middle overs that Sophie rolled in - in particular, those seven overs where she pulled the game back? How frustrating is it after that performance that you had to end up chasing to 226?
Heather: Like I say, I think it was below par on that wicket. It was a very good wicket and their two set batters in that were able to maximize the pitch, were used to it and that can be quite tricky. To defend as a bowling side. So I don't think it's a huge concern – our death bowling, we can definitely do better - but it's not my biggest concern at the moment.
Reporter: It's been a long winter/ summer, I guess winter for us - Ashes included. How is that playing on the minds of the players?
Heather: Not too much. I think it feels like a fresh tour, obviously being out here and you're in a World Cup and certainly the longest tour we've ever had. I think Ashes trip and a World Cup combined is the longest tour we've ever had, but that's the way cricket is getting now. You're constantly playing in different series for your country, playing in different tournament. So that's something that yeah, we should be used to - so there's certainly no lack of motivation for us to do well in this competition and energy to be successful, which we've got to bring, obviously in that next game.
Reporter: England were in trouble early during the 2017 World Cup and you fought back and you were there in the final at the Lord's. Do you think the way you fought back in that tournament will help the players who are still here in this tournament to look back and take inspiration from?
Heather: Yeah, potentially I think we need to have a knockout mindset now - that next game is crucial to our World Cup hopes against South Africa. So we have to bring that mindset of needing to win every game and that simplifies things, doesn't it? And hopefully that'll sharpen people up sharpen people's minds to what we need to do, because at the moment we're fighting for life in this tournament. But yeah, I think those experiences, there's a lot of experience in this group. We've lost games before and we know that we can't dwell on defeat too much. Particularly close defeats. They can be sometimes a little bit tricky to park but we've got to make sure we park them, take what we need to and go into the next game and give it everything -when that does come
Reporter: I'm just wondering we've seen quite a lot of dropped catches and I guess not very disciplined bowling in terms of the wides throughout the tournament so far. What can you put that down to?
Heather: I'm not sure to be honest. I would say it's quite windy in New Zealand, but I don't think that's too much to do with it. Yeah, I don't know. I think a lot of teams have been quite aggressive with the bat maybe that's putting a little bit more pressure on the bowlers and obviously testing their skills a little bit and testing the fielders as well. But yeah, I'm not too sure why that is.
Reporter: My question is, World Cup is one such packed tournament where you hardly get time to you know, reflect or rectify your mistakes. So how England is going to process this upset because I guess nobody saw it coming and focus on the next one?
Heather: I think that can be a positive as well. It means you have to move on very fast, you travel to a new place, you’re playing against a new team that you have to prep for and the fact that it does come quite quickly means you can't dwell on the last game. So I think that's always the case in World Cups. We've played a lot of World Cup cricket in our group. And we know that's the case and you will have to move on very quickly.