11 March - Tauranga - South Africa player Laura Wolvaardt post-match press conference
Reporter: I'm sure you guys didn't want it as close as it was there at the end. But how much of a morale booster is it knowing that you guys can hold on under pressure and to keep your nerve like that in tense situations?
Laura: Yeah, we definitely would have liked, I think 20 or 30 more runs with the bat, and we knew that coming off the field. It could possibly get a bit tight at the end there. But yeah, I think knowing that we're not playing our best cricket and still winning tight games is a good thing. I guess if we were playing our best cricket and it was still being this tight then it would actually be worse. So yeah, definitely a big morale booster and hopefully we can make it less tight next time.
Reporter: A key part of that was your runs at the top. What are your personal goals for this tournament, obviously leading from the front at the top of the order with Lizelle coming back tonight. What are your goals for the tournament?
Laura: Yeah, just leading from the front and my job is kind of to bat as long as I can and to bat 40-50 overs in an innings. So far, I haven't quite done that yet. But the longer that I'm there the more I guess the other people like Lizelle can play their natural games around me. So just to still achieve that and to hopefully score some runs for the team.
Reporter: I just wanted to ask regarding that pressure, it seemed like on the fielding side, in your defense - those most run outs - we do – I’d say as the team looking at that, that you put yourselves maybe under unnecessary pressure towards the end of the match, whereas maybe the result could have been put to bed at an earlier stage.
Laura: Yeah, definitely, I think those run outs weren't ideal or missing them wasn't ideal. If we got one or two of them early on, we definitely would have been in a different situation at the end. Yeah, it was just it was one of those days they were all just missing the stumps and in training yesterday we were hitting most of them - So it's just one of those days and I'm glad we could still come away with the win.
Reporter: Just for starters- I think when we're going into this match, there was a lot of things that the team needed to sort of fix looking back at the first match. What do you feel like this time around? You guys did right - In terms of what you needed to work on, leading up to this match? Like I said, looking at the first match, what do you feel like the team did right in this match?
Well, I think coming off that first match, one of the main things was to have a bit of a better start with the bat, which we actually didn't really have this game. So I think going back now that'll just be another thing that we will keep highlighting - just to get off to a better start and to set it up better for the people coming in at the back. Because like for example, we had Chloe in around the like 32 over or something and ideally we'd like her to come in right at the end and have a good whack. But other than that, I think the bowlers are doing a fantastic job - whatever they're doing, they're doing right. And hopefully they can just keep bowling well on and keep defending our scores.
Reporter: It seems like it's going to be close matches, but in terms of a target, what do you think is - I mean batting first, what do you feel like is a safe target to put on, to make sure that once you go into fielding, you don't have so much pressure? What do you feel like is a safe target to put up?
Laura: Well, I think it depends on the day in the game, I guess. But I think today 260 - 270 would have been ideal, would have taken a bit of pressure off of us just to have that extra 40 runs in hand. But there are other days like the other game in the competition there. I think Australia scored like 300 or something and England almost chased it down. So I think it depends on the day and the wicket, we’ll just have to assess early on us as opening batters – Lizelle and I - what we think a good score is.
Reporter: Tell us a little bit about that last over and just what you were thinking as Shabnim was bowling and then how she took that incredible catch?
Laura: Yeah Shabnim was incredible in that last over - but it's typical her - she's such a big match player so not surprised that she handled the pressure the way that she did. And that catch was incredible to go from a full run up and bowl that ball to turn around and take an overhead catch. I think overheads are difficult enough as it is so it was really good from her.
Reporter: Just as a follow up from that, I mean it was quite up and down, there was some good catches and good run outs and then obviously some missed ones. And what can we put that down to it seems to be happening throughout the tournament.
Laura: Yeah, I think overall ground fielding and our catching wasn't too bad. I don't think we are having slip ups – but yeah the run outs obviously I think could have made the game a lot less tight, If we hit one or two of those. I think it's just about staying calm in those moments, and not kind of panicking when the ball comes to us and throwing too quickly. So maybe that's something that we'll discuss is just staying calmer in those moments.
Reporter: Were you actually worried about the rest of the batting lineup for the next matches, I mean England and actually the Aussies. I mean we said that for you and Sune Luus - there's not much happening in The top 4-5 -
Laura: Yeah, well. Obviously, the rest of the top four haven't scored yet, but I guess it's only been two games, there's still a long tournament to come. Batters often have two games where they don't perform well and we have a lot of depth in the batting and experienced players like Mignon who have played hundreds of games and now that we have Lizelle back as well. So I think it's just a matter of time. It looks like the top six - they're all hitting it really well in the nets and sometimes I guess it's just cricket that you get two bad games in a row. So I don't think we'll overanalyze it too much. I think we're also hitting the ball well, and that's just about it, hopefully coming around in the next game.
Reporter: I was saying to Diana ahead of the tournament, and she said they wanted Sune’s characteristics cause of the skippers ability to stay calm. Do you get that feeling from her and when the game was getting as tight as it was towards the end? I mean, what was the feeling like on the field? I mean, were you guys relatively calm given the situation and how much does Sune feed into that?
Laura: Yeah, I think we were actually surprisingly calm given the situation – Sune especially – Sune you don't even notice that she's actually on the cricket field. She kind of just looks the same as when she's off of the cricket field. That's how like chilled she is. So I think that just rubs off on everyone at the end of the day. And I think that's going to be crucial going forward - just remaining calm in those big moments.
Reporter: Well done today, if you look at overall in the tournament – there are a couple of big players putting hundreds - Are you happy with your conversion rates, in terms of getting 50 and 100?
Laura: No, I was very upset today when I went out. I get very angry when I feel like I put in the hard work and then take it all the way, especially today. And just how I went out as well, I felt was very dumb. So I definitely want to be putting my hand up in that department and to score 100 or two in this World Cup would be ideal. I feel like I'm getting the shots well, though. It's just about focusing a bit harder, I guess, around the 70s.
Reporter: It seemed like when you walked out to bat there, there is a deep extra cover posted on the band. How are you planning to go around that and have you worked on ways to basically maybe expand your grid?
Laura: Yeah, I guess it's a little bit annoying in the sense that it kind of takes away your boundary option early on, but I kind of like – it’s really easy one for me upfront. So if I can just get off strike every ball to the deep extra then that's fine.
Reporter: I've got two questions. My first one is at this point you played against two of the bottom teams on the log. Next you are up against England – will another subpar batting display – where can you guys improve in bating department – Laura during your innings - you mentioned facing slow bowlers was a concern.
Laura: Yeah, I think the main thing for us is that start. We spoke about it after the last game and I think again today we were like 20 something after the first 10, I think we'll just have to find a way to score more runs in that power play whether it's rotating better or hitting the snowballing a bit harder through the field or something like that. And then I think just the slow spinners in the middle, just to find a way to rotate a bit better. Today we had a couple of overs where Sune and I were batting where we only got like one or two singles every over, whereas if we show that bit more intent like we did at the end, then it becomes a bit easier to score those runs. So I think it's just about runs up front and then rotating better in the middle.
Reporter: The last question is - good to have Lizelle back. You ladies welcome Lizelle today – how did she look at training thus far. Do you believe she can take off after today, after roughly six week layoff?
Laura: Yes. It's very good to have her back. I really enjoyed batting with her. I feel like she takes a lot of pressure off of me at the top of the order, and she's looking good in the nets. She played some ridiculous shots the other day so I thought she was actually going to score big today. We definitely happy to have her back in the side.
Reporter: You already spoke a little bit about Shabnim - just as a group. It was nice to see today how they were enjoying each other's success like when Kaka got a wicket – the celebration with Kapp and then with Ismail- they just seemed like they're having a great time together. Just talk to us about the unit- seeing that pace balling unit together.
Laura: Yeah, I think enjoying each other's success is going to be crucial throughout this competition. It's a World Cup. It's about the the team and the country. And it's not just about individual players. So whoever does well on the day, I think it's really important that we're all happy for them and that we show that and that we celebrate when they do well. So yeah - and the bowling unit - they're doing very well as well. So it's nice to see that they're supporting each other.
Reporter: You already spoke about how hard your standards are for your own batting. So going forward, if you could maybe improve on something from your innings today. What are the notes that you've taken on your own performance? What would you like to better going forward especially with the kind of opponents that are coming up?
Laura: I feel there was a phase when Sune and I were batting where we didn't show enough intent. We kind of just let them bowl and I kind of just dotted off a little bit. But as soon as when the leg spinner came out and I used my feet and shared a bit more intent and bowled a bit easier. So I think that - that's something that I'll look to do a bit earlier, maybe next time is to even if you just show that little bit of intent just to mess with the baller a little bit I guess - and then focusing a bit harder later on in the innings and not going up to knockout balls I guess.
Reporter: And I just had one small follow up with just how Pakistan played today. This was easily one of their better games in the tournament and they took it right to the end. If you had a word of encouragement or advice for that team, given how far they've come and the performances they have - What would you like to tell them?
Laura: Yeah, they've definitely come a long way, I guess us and Pakistan are kind of similar in that, is that we've both improved a lot over the last couple of years. So hopefully they can cause an upset later on In the tournament. I'm glad it wasn't us, But yeah, it's good to see them playing good cricket.
Reporter: Do you think one of the struggles between the Bangladesh game and the Pakistan one today was sort of the long layoff between games? You know, six days was quite a bit. So do you think those short turn to England will sort of help you guys keep the momentum going? And then obviously England is going to be a very tough one. They're going to be a dangerous opposition. Having lost twice. Are you guys ready for that challenge?
Laura: Yeah, that'll obviously be a massive game. I don't think the long lay over affected this game too much. If anything, I think we were just fresher than playing back to back to back. So yeah, it's definitely we'll have to be on top of our game. Hopefully we can put up a bit more runs or chase down whatever they set us. So definitely looking forward to it and hopefully we can have a couple of productive meetings before then to see where we went wrong.