22 March - Wellington - Australia Captain Meg Lanning post-match press conference
Reporter: My question is - what was your thought process when you entered the chase when you lost the early wicket of Alyssa Healy?
Meg: Yeah, well, we were very aware of the threat that Kapp and Ismail pose up front - they've been bowling extremely well throughout the tournament. So we knew that we probably needed to make sure we saw that through, myself and Rach and we were able to do that, I guess because we felt like if we could have some wickets in hand then that was how we were going to set up the chase. So my mindset was to go out there and still try and score but if the ball wasn't there, or , they bowled in a really good area to sort of respect that and I felt like I left the ball quite well, at the start of my innings, which is not something that I normally do, but I just felt like the condition sort of required that today. So I thought we negotiated that period pretty well.
Reporter: Was it a kind of a relief after being stuck in the 80s and 90s since the Ashes test in Canberra?
Meg: Oh, it was nice to go on with the innings today and we speak a lot about someone in the top four going on for a match winning innings and it was it was my job to do that today. So to be honest through the 90s – it was great to get to a100. But my role was to be there at the end, which meant I need to get quite a few more than 100. So that was sort of the mindset that I had - it was nice to get to that milestone, but it was important that I was there at the end.
Reporter: It showed in the middle of the innings, the entire bench was enjoying and laughing when you were batting - they were so relaxed. Is it something that the captain Meg Lanning has instilled in the team that when there is a chase, it's going to be Australia’s game when she's batting?
Meg: I think as a team we're quite relaxed, I think we're switched on when we need to be and we enjoy cricket we enjoy being around each other. And I think that's the best part of this team. So, even though it is at times tense out on the field, I think when you see that the bench in a relaxed sort of mindset. I think that sort of puts you at ease out in the middle. So I didn't see that today but it's nice to hear I - I think the more we enjoy our cricket and have smiles on our faces, the better we play.
Reporter: Were you counting your lucky stars to survive those first few overs?
Meg: Oh a little bit. I knew it was going to be tough going out there against the new ball, against two world class bowlers. So, sometimes you need a bit of luck. I felt like I've got a bit of that today, and you just got to try and make the most of it. So yeah - I thought myself and Rachel sort of negotiated those first 10 overs reasonably well, you are always going to play and miss a couple and again, a bit of luck every now and again. But it required a little bit of restraint and patience, I think just to make sure we got through that period, which we were able to do.
Reporter: Can I also ask about Darcie Brown missing? Does she play every game from now on? And what was the thought process there? And just as a sort of sub question, what do you make of your struggle to take early wickets today?
Meg: Yeah, with Darcie, we sort of look at every game as to whether she's physically in a position to be able to play at 100%. She's a young fast bowler who we need to make sure we're looking after and she had a big workload last game. So today it was about managing her and hoping that she's available for us every game back end of the tournament. That's the aim. So we brought Annabel Sutherland in today who I thought did an excellent job with bat and ball, it just made our lineup look slightly different. I don't think it weakened at all. So that's the strength of our squad and in terms of early wickets, I actually thought we bowled okay. There was a little bit in the wicket early, we would have loved to take a few more wickets. But what we did do is keep the run rate under control and then when we were able to take some wickets towards the back end, so that sort of helped contain them a bit. So at halfway we thought 270 was about par, But we did feel like the wicket was getting better as the day went on. So we were certainly confident about chasing it.
Reporter: Do you have any sort of update on Pez and where she's at?
Meg: Not specifically, so just briefly in the changing rooms before she looks okay. She could have batted there if we needed her, but it as it turned out, we didn't have to send her out there. So, yeah we'll manage her over the next few days whether she's available for the next game. I'm not too sure. But we need to have her for that semifinal and hopefully final – so, yeah, we'll certainly look at what that looks like for her. But for her to go off. Obviously there's something there. She's a pretty tough character. So hopefully it's nothing too serious.
Reporter: Given your six scenario and two clear on the top of the table and you play the bottom or second bottom team on Friday, will there be a fair chance that she’ll be rested?
Meg: Oh, look, if she's not 100% and able to perform her role then there's a chance that she won't play, but if she comes up pretty well and she's fit and available, then she'll play - I don't think we'll look at the rest any players that are available, but we certainly won't be taking any risks with any key players. So it'll just depend on how she pulls up and how she's feeling heading into that game.
Reporter: And just following up from previous question about Darcy, just in terms of would you be tempted to rest her from Bangladesh as well to make sure that she's good for the semies and potentially the final or would that be too much of a stretch -would you rather that she played, had a bit of cricket behind her going into the semi’s?
Meg: Yeah, it's a tight balance obviously we want her to be available for that semifinal, if we choose to play her in the lineup, so it's a fine balance in terms of having her fresh but also making sure she's got some good rhythm as well. So we'll work through that with the management team over the next few days and see if she plays the next game, but she is ready to go, she's keen to play so yeah, we all can't wait to see her back out there.
Reporter: I think you said after the last game that it's something- it’s like a switch at training the day previously and the change things for you and Alysa Healy also said you two were kind of pumping each other up in the nets before that game. What has changed for you over the past couple of games, so to be batting like this?
Meg: I think it was as simple as hitting the ball a little bit lighter. I was trying to force the ball a little bit when it wasn't quite there and it was ending up with the ball going in the air. So it was as literally as simple as that. That's one of my strengths is I hit the ball really late and get the angles going on the off side. So that was a bit of a cue for me, just to sort of trust my hands and let the ball come to me a bit more rather than feeling for it out in front of myself. So that was a bit of a cue as well. I thought today, in particular, I showed a bit more patience at the start as well. Understanding the threats that were there with Ismail and Kapp - As I said before, like I left a number of balls which is not normal for me, but I felt like that was the way to play on this wicket to get myself in, so I think it's just about adjusting to the conditions that are in front of me and yeah, we all love to go out there and hit the ball from ball one - but sometimes the conditions don't allow that, you need to just adjust and yeah, just sort of get yourself in really, give yourself a chance.
Reporter: And did that realization come about due to a conversation with anyone in particular or just you thinking to yourself?
Meg: A bit of both, I was doing a lot of thinking after the West Indies game in particular. So yeah, there's a bit of time to think when you're on tour. So I was trying to come up with all sorts of things but it was literally in that net session with Alyssa Healey, where I went in there for some extra throws and the first couple of scuffed the half volley in the air in front of point and I was pretty mad at myself and literally Motty just said, you just need to hit the ball lighter - and I was like 0 Okay. And then literally next time I went down, I middled the ball, so it was sort of a simple sort of thing. But again, it was just going back to my strengths. That's what I do really well and just trusting that and backing that in well.
Reporter: I guess one of the things you were talking about is how dominant Australia have been so far and things kind of look pretty easy. But I'm sure that there must be moments when you feel like you've been challenged. If I could ask you to reflect on the six wins so far - what have been the most challenging moments for you guys?
Meg: I think yeah, particularly teams are coming hard at us when we're batting and trying to take some early wickets and put us under pressure and they've been able to do that at times. I think to the West Indies game, the New Zealand game where we were three for 50 odd, we've been able to battle our way through that and still post decent scores. So I think that has been a really important part of our team is to make sure that if it's a couple - not a couple of people stay at the top of the order that we've still got enough firepower there to get us to a defendable total. So I think the batters have had to work really hard. It's not easy out there with the new ball, you got to get through that period and you can cash in at the back end, but you've got to be there to be able to do that. So I think that that's been really important.
And the other thing is, I think over the last two games to keep two really good teams with wickets in hand towards the back end to 270 odd, when they had pretty good base was a great effort from the bowlers, I think we've been able to go to our Plan B's and C's and try and restrict them as best we can. And we're going to have to continue to do that because teams come hard at us. They sort of get up when they play against us and we're ready for that, to absorb a bit of pressure and then sort of push back when we need to so it certainly hasn't been easy. It's been a very challenging tournament so far and we're expecting that to happen into the semi finals as well. It's a great competition. There's been some close finishes and hopefully we can continue improving and really be able to hold our nerve under pressure.
Reporter: I just wanted to know how do you approach a chase like that, especially with an attack where you know the seamers are their biggest threats? Do you kind of like target certain bowlers to try and get ahead of the raid or is it just more about simply reacting to what's thrown at you?
Meg: Oh, I think there's certainly an element of sort of calculation in terms of identifying who the threat is with the ball and making sure that you negotiate that really well. And then if you do get an opportunity to put another ball under pressure, you really take that. So that was sort of what happened today. To be honest, it was difficult upfront and then sort of once the spin and sort of medium paces came on, it was a little bit easier for me to get ahead of the rate. I think we got it down to about four sort of reasonably quickly, which was really important just to sort of break the back of the chase. So to be honest, I don't look at the scoreboard a hell of a lot, I keep an eye on it to make sure that the run rate is not getting out of control but get a general feel for the game in terms of how we're going and where we're at with it. So I felt like we controlled it reasonably well for the most part of today which was pleasing.