31 October - Pune - New Zealand Captain Tom Latham pre-match press conference
[Reporter:]
Welcome to Pune. You've had a couple of days to reflect on the happenings of Dharamsala in that high-octane, nail-biting finish that we had. What are some of the learnings and how do you look forward to this game against South Africa?
[Tom Latham:]
Yeah, as you said, reflecting on what was an amazing game of cricket, obviously disappointing to come out on the wrong side of it. But I think if you look at the game as a whole, we did a lot of good things really well. We were obviously put under pressure, or a lot of pressure at the start, the way Australia came out to bat but I think the way we're able to pull ourselves back into the game and we obviously understood pretty quickly that it was a pretty decent surface and you know it's going to be a high par score. They probably got a little bit more than what we wanted towards the back end but I think we obviously put ourselves in a position towards the end of the game to win the game which is I guess what you want in these World Cup games is to put yourself in a position where you can win and when you're chasing something like 400, you kind of need everything to go well.
From a batting point of view, I thought we did a fantastic job. We were one shot away from being on the other side. A lot of positives. We obviously reflected from a bowling point of view as well and hopefully we can put those learnings into practice tomorrow.
[Reporter:]
Just going on to that 388 that we kind of were chasing in that game, coming up against a side which has come close to 400 a couple of times in this tournament. Does that kind of make you look at strategy around how to utilise the bowlers a bit better and stuff like that as well?
[Tom Latham:]
Yeah, I think it's just recognising situations as best you can and trying to be proactive as much as we can as well from a bowling point of view and I guess from a field placement point of view as well. Like every team we do our scouting, trying to find weaknesses from a batting point of view from South Africa, but as you said they're a team that's running pretty hot at the moment. They've got some guys in form from a batting point of view. So again, it's going to be another great challenge. And we have come to a different venue and we've got to adapt as quick as we can to this ground here in Pune.
[Reporter:]
Jimmy Neesham has given you a good headache to have in the sense that he comes into the side and plays quite a vital role in that game. What happens with selection and stuff like that if Chapman is fine for selection as well?
[Tom Latham:]
Yeah, I think from a selection point of view, we've obviously just arrived here. We've got a few guys to, I guess, to get through a few fitness tests and I guess once we train, we'll have a clearer idea of what the 11 looks like - so fingers crossed all those guys can get through a bit of work today at training and be ready to go tomorrow.
[Reporter:]
I just wanted to touch upon Glenn Phillips, the bowler. He's taken some huge wickets in the tournament so far. So how does the team sees his role as a bowler and how he goes about developing his skills?
[Tom Latham:]
Yeah, he's been fantastic for us. He's obviously had sort of limited opportunity with the ball compared to the other two guys. But he's an all-rounder for us who obviously has a lot of power with the bat, but also can bowl some handy overs. And it's nice having the option with the ball spinning the other way. And I think when he's bowled, he's obviously taken his opportunity really well. I think you look back to the Australia game a couple of games ago where we were under a lot of pressure and for him to bowl 10 overs from one end and get three for 30 odd, I think it was, was obviously a fantastic effort on a wicket that wasn't necessarily offering a lot.
So, I guess it just shows he's a really hard worker, someone that hasn't been bowling off spin for long. He's a keeper from growing up. So, I guess that just shows that the work that he's put in for him to get a few rewards throughout this tournament has been great and I'm sure he'll be looking forward to hopefully getting an opportunity again at some point with the ball and hopefully he can keep showing us the skills that he's got?
[Reporter:]
Can you give us any updates on Lockie Ferguson's achilles and also is there any update on Kane (Williamson)?
[Tom Latham:]
Yeah, just as I said before, there's Lockie, Kane and Mark Chapman. We'll obviously get through hopefully a bit of work today and then we'll see how they pull up from a selection point of view. But yeah, obviously, Lockie went off in the last game with a bit of achilles' niggle, so fingers crossed he'll be fine for tomorrow.
[Reporter:]
And then, I don't know what you gained from our intro but it was about the rugby world cup and just kind of the sentiment around South Africa and obviously they're taking a lot of inspiration from that. I know you guys didn't win it but what can you get from the All Blacks if anything to kind of motivate yourselves?
[Tom Latham:]
Yeah, that was obviously a fantastic game of rugby. Obviously, again, unfortunate to be on the wrong side, but I guess you look at the All Blacks as a whole, they've played some great rugby throughout this World Cup. I think you look at the final and I guess a Kiwi way is we look to scrap the whole way, obviously faced with a little bit of adversity in terms of being down to 14 men, but I guess it's something we talk about in our team as well, is we scrap right to the end regardless of the situation. I think we showed that the other night as well, taking the game as deep as we can and if we can do that, then hopefully that gives ourselves a good chance, you know towards the back end of the game.
[Reporter:]
Such a long tournament, as a team how do you go about picking at the right time? And in that context, the previous two games, would you say are the blessing in disguise?
[Tom Latham:]
Yeah, I think we just focus on every game as it comes, really. Every game is just as important as the next. And even though we've come off the back of a couple of losses, we've actually done a lot of good stuff as well. You know, it's obvious, it's easy to point out the, I guess, the negatives and things that you may want to do better. But we’ve come close in both those games, especially the last one. And, you know, when you have some tight turnarounds, some quick turnarounds, it's about trying to obviously recognising the areas that you want to get better, but then also focusing on the things that we do well. And if we do that, then as I said, hopefully we give ourselves a good chance towards the backing of each game.
[Reporter:]
The situation in South Africa is that not too many people have noticed the Cricket World Cup because of the Rugby World Cup. And I just wonder, is something similar true in New Zealand? You guys have been able to kind of sail under the radar until now?
[Tom Latham:]
There's obviously two, you know, pretty special sporting events going on at the moment. Obviously, one's just finished, but we certainly feel that the support that we have back home. It might be slightly different to other countries around the world, but we certainly feel the support back home. Obviously, a few people here as well, which is nice.
Yeah, we certainly understand the country is right behind us and hopefully we can, I guess, make them proud as much as we can.
[Reporter:]
South Africa's blueprint is fairly obvious for all to see. I mean, they're basically playing T20 cricket with 30 overs to get there. So early wickets is obviously the key perhaps to disturbing that blueprint and obviously Lockie (Ferguson) would be important but are you thinking that bowl your strike bowlers up front, early wickets might be the key tomorrow?
[Tom Latham:]
Yeah, I think whatever game you play, not just against South Africa, I think it's important. You know, wickets are really important. That's the way to stem the run rate as best you can by taking wickets and that's not just at the top, that's through the middle as well. And as you said, we've seen South Africa, they're running really hot at the moment. And they've got a lot of power throughout the whole line-up. Certainly, wickets are going to be important. And I guess it's just trying to understand the match-ups as best you can. And we certainly know we've got a world-class bowling attack as well and you know when they're on song there and you know that's certainly very threatening so and if they, I guess bowl to the best of their ability then you know we'll certainly give ourselves a good chance and be it as I said on the back of that. South Africa has a lot of batters that are in form and it's going to be a great contest tomorrow.
[Reporter:]
South Africa's chasing against Pakistan. Do you see any kind of opening for yourself in that kind of situation as South Africa to chase, set up a target? Do you see anything different from what South Africa had done before while batting first?
[Tom Latham:]
Yeah, I guess whether you're batting first, whether you're bowling first, you've got to do it well. I guess you look at games in the past here, whether dew is going to be a factor. I guess we're going to come up with the decision of what's going to be best for us in terms of how we want to approach this game. So, yeah sometimes you could look at the opposition and what they want to do, but for us, it's always been about focusing on us and what's best for us as a team. So, we'll obviously have those discussions during training and come up with those decisions.