9 October - Hyderabad - Netherlands player Colin Ackermann post-match press conference
[Reporter:]
You must be clearly disappointed with the result.
[Colin Ackermann:]
Yeah, very disappointed. Probably felt that New Zealand got 30-40 too many runs today. We just struggled to take wickets throughout the innings, I think, all their batters faced at least 40 balls in the top five. So, we struggled to peg them back, which resulted in them getting a good score on that wicket.
[Reporter:]
We saw that against Pakistan as well you decided to field first and bowl first, we saw in this game as well you decided to do that. What was the thought process behind that?
[Colin Ackermann:]
Yeah, I'm not really involved in the decision-making - the captain and coach do that but you know probably looking at the previous game against Pakistan we took three wickets in the power play and pegged them back pretty well it didn't work out that way today for us. I think we probably were looking to follow the same blueprint in taking early wickets in the power play, but it just didn't happen for us today.
[Reporter:]
And opening with a spinner, no other team seems to have done that so far in this World Cup. Is that something you guys have pre-planned, or is it just plainly because of the conditions that you're facing here?
[Colin Ackermann:]
Yeah, I think Aryan Dutt poses a massive threat with a new ball on these wickets. He poses a big threat for the left-handers up front. We saw today he got three maidens in the first three overs. He poses a massive threat especially to left-handers because he gets the ball to skid on and sometimes spins. It's all about match-ups for us.
[Reporter:]
So, as you said, you are chasing a big target over 300. And there is only 150 partnership. And the other one was only 40. So how crucial are the big partnerships in chasing big totals?
[Colin Ackermann:]
Yeah, it's obviously crucial. You need those 100-run partnerships if you want to chase down 320. So, we failed to do that again. We needed to set a firm base. I think we were 150 for 4 after 30 overs. So, we were kind of on track, but then we lost a couple of quick wickers after the 30th over. So, we needed to extend the partnerships, as you said.
[Reporter:]
Colin, probably not the best reflection of Dutch batting, and especially the running between the wickets?
[Colin Ackermann:]
Yeah, a couple of mishaps today, a couple of close calls as well. But we want to keep that running intent up. It's part of our DNA, part of our blueprint. So, we're always looking to steal a few singles and put the fielders under pressure on the boundary by running twos.
[Reporter:]
You were the first-choice spinner at Leicestershire, and your role there was pretty different.
How is it any different with the Netherlands?
[Colin Ackermann:]
Yeah, I think the conditions are different over here. In the UK, sometimes the balls don't spin as much as over here. We've got Aryan Dutt, we’ve got Roelof van der Merwe, we’ve got Saqib Zulfiqar - all good bowling options, so it's all about Scott Edwards, and what he feels is the right matchup on the day and against certain batters. I bowled pretty nicely against Pakistan and today didn't go according to plan which can happen.
[Reporter:]
Just want to ask you about your batting you know what was the thought process because as someone mentioned you were involved in that 50 and 40 in partnership. So, what was the thing that you were looking while batting and in the middle?
[Colin Ackermann:]
Yeah, I was looking to just try and take it as deep as possible. We knew that New Zealand wanted to try and take as many wickets early on, so we kind of had to absorb a bit of pressure. Like I said earlier, we were 150 after 30 overs, so we were kind of on track to chase that down, but I think we were four wickets down at that stage. So, we needed to be maybe three wickets down going into the last 20 overs with wickets in hand we know that we can chase that down.
[Reporter:]
How did the pitch play out? I mean, evidently there was turn, but as far as pace was concerned, was the ball stopping and word on Mitchell Santner's spell?
[Colin Ackermann:]
Yeah, I thought the pitch kept kind of low. And there wasn't much bounce on offer for the seamers. You could see Boult and Henry kind of attack the stumps early on. Then a couple of balls spun from Santner. He mixes his pace pretty well; he was a massive threat I think we played him pretty well up to a point and then we gave him a couple of soft wickets towards the back end.
[Reporter:]
How difficult is it for the team to come back after two early losses in such a major championship?
[Colin Ackermann:]
Yeah, I think we've played some good cricket in patches, we just haven't put together enough phases where we dominate. I think the game against Pakistan, we did one in the power play. We took three early wickets. And we laid a solid foundation with a bat. But then we kind of fell away. So, we need to put together all three phases of the game to win.
[Reporter:]
So, what's the plan for, I mean, the team will be traveling to Dharamsala. And there's a big gap of six days before the next game. So, what sort of changes and game plans you'll be working on in the coming game?
[Colin Ackermann:]
Yeah, we'll have to take a few days rest I think the schedule's been quite intense. We've been training very hard as well. We've taken that quite seriously. So, I suppose we'll have a couple of days to reflect and see what we've done well, what we haven't done so well, and then look at the next game against South Africa. Obviously, the conditions will change up in Dharamshala. So, we'll sit down as a group and assess.
[Reporter:]
So, you've had two consecutive losses by big margins. Has there been any conversation regarding trying to play the full 50 overs when you realize that the target is beyond reach? Because towards the later stages it comes down to the net run rate. So has there been any conversation regarding that?
[Colin Ackermann:]
It's only two games in. You know it doesn't tell the full story as well. Sometimes you've got to try and take it as deep as possible, but then the rate keeps climbing. But these bowlers do make it difficult for us. They're not just going to give us easy boundaries in the middle overs. So yeah, I suppose we lost by 100 runs today but I think we just gave them too many runs. We shouldn't have chased 320 you know, maybe 280 - 290 would have been a decent chase today.