Published: Feb 20, 2015, 03:12 PM (IST)
Edited: Mar 09, 2015, 11:22 AM (IST)
New Zealand crushed England by eight wickets to remain at the top of the Pool A in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. Tim Southee bowled a devastating spell and registered the best ever bowling figures by a New Zealander in One-Day Internationals (ODIs) as England were bowled out for 123. Speaking to the press after the win, Southee described the performance as “almost perfect” and spoke highly about his captain Brendon McCullum, under whom New Zealand cricket has thrived. ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: Full Coverage
Q: That went as well as you could possibly have expected it to?
Tim Southee (TS): Yeah, it was almost a perfect performance.
Q: Have you ever been as in the zone as that?
(TS): Um, it all happened pretty quickly, so we didn’t really have time to think about it. Just worry about the next ball and it’s such a cool crowd and having them behind you always helps.
Q: It started off brilliantly as well. And then you came back in that second burst and that worked.
(TS): Yeah, I think we went out there with the toss and wanted to be aggressive, and we let it sit. And it gave us a couple of wickets and we just kept the pressure on and kept chipping away.
Q: Considering England is a quality side, were you surprised how quickly they folded?
(TS): Yeah, I guess a little surprised. They are a quality side, and I’m sure they’ll bounce back from this performance. They’ve got some world-class players and they’re not far away from, I guess, showing what they’re capable of.
Q: Coming from the conditions, to roughly what they found today, was that a surprise that you were able to cope with what you were able to deal with?
(TS): Yeah, that was one thing that for us if we won the toss. It looked like a pretty good wicket, but we managed to get it swinging. If we don’t get it swinging, it’s a different ballgame.
Q: How is it to be backed up by some of the captains? Would you say this was almost the best captaincy team you’ve been part of?
(TS): Yeah, I think we’ve seen over the last year that he’s (Brendon McCullum) an aggressive captain, and the way he plays cricket he’s aggressive. I think his bowlers give him the confidence to go out and knowing the captain’s right behind taking fields and I think it’s an attitude we pride ourselves for a number of years now. And it’s an attitude thing I think we get from Brendon himself, the way he throws himself around in the field. And if he’s doing that, it’s standard for the rest of the team to follow.
Q: The fact that you played One-Day International (ODI) cricket, did you realise that at the time that you were bowling as best as you had?
(TS): Yeah, someone had mentioned it at the time. But you sort of try and take it and give it to the way we bowl as a group over a period of time now. And like I said, I’m sure there will be another time where we’re both just as well or someone else will bowl better. It’s fun game of cricket, and I think it was testament to the way we had bowled as a group for a number of games.
Q: Was it moving around a lot?
(TS): Well, we hadn’t played a One-Day game for a while here, and for the oval it just proved different.
Q: Is it surreal?
(TS): Yeah, I think it will settle in a couple of days what we have done today. It was a pretty good victory, and an amazing game to be part of.
Q: Supposing you could take it into attacking maybe too much, but you seemed to be patient and let wickets come. Is that how you wanted it?
(TS): Yeah, I think if you do strike in the areas, you’ll get bit, and I think that’s the ability of our bowlers to take the field and get the boundaries, and they still look to take wickets is credit to the way we bowled.
Q: Did you have a feeling today was going to be a good day?
(TS): No, we tune-up every day the same. You take the things you do and the things you do before a game, and today was no different. So, yeah, it was just one of those days.
Q: What did you make the decision to the dinner break?
(TS): I think we knew how fast it was going to be. It’s the rule, so we couldn’t have done anything there.
Q: On Shane Bond?
(TS): Yeah, I think he (Shane Bond) takes a lot of pride out of seeing the bowlers do well. He’s been instrumental in, I guess, the way the bowlers have performed for a couple years now. Once he does, he’s done a great job, but I think we’ll be listening to his input.
Q: You guys getting back on the grounds, do you think it will be quite tough to manage all of that?
(TS): No, I don’t think so. I think it’s the environment we have at the moment. No one seems to get too far ahead of themselves. We’ll enjoy today, and we’ll pack it and move on to the game next week. The guys have a few days off. So we’ll manage to go away for a bit, refresh, and come back together for next week for another big game.
Q: Where does this stand in terms of your days?
(TS):I think it’s nothing different. It’s just one of those days where we almost couldn’t do anything wrong. Just kept going and kept going. It was a bit of a period of time, and it will be something that we look back on time and realise how special it is.
Q: Was it hard to get around with the crowd?
(TS): Yeah, it’s something we’ll look forward to and something you have to embrace. I think it’s a little bit daunting going out there for some people that haven’t played in front of those numbers, and the noise can get to you. But you’ve got to enjoy it and embrace it because it will go by quickly. If you can’t enjoy the opener, in time you’ll probably kick yourself and look back on something that’s so amazing and something that is the best example.
Courtesy: ICC
