Published: Mar 03, 2015, 09:24 PM (IST)
Edited: Mar 03, 2015, 09:26 PM (IST)
Ireland captain William Porterfield talks about his team’s annihilation at the hands of South Africa in the ICC World Cup cricket 2015 on Tuesday. (ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: Full coverage)
Q: I suppose against South Africa you’ve got to take every chance, and you didn’t do that today?
William Porterfield (WP): Yeah, obviously it was a big chance there and in the sixth or seventh over we got a chance to take Hashim out when he was on 10, so he obviously made us pay. He’s a fantastic player, not going to get too many chances off him, especially on such a good wicket. Look, it’s disappointing but we couldn’t do that when we were out there. We had to get on with it. But yeah, they played well.
Q: You talked yesterday about sticking to plans and being smart. Do you think you did that as well as you could have done today, or were you just, I guess, overwhelmed by Hashim?
WP: I wouldn’t say overwhelmed. We did very well in stages. Obviously Maxie (Max Sorensen) and Kevvy (Kevin O’Brien) would have liked to have started a bit better in the first 10 there and supported John Boy (John Mooney) who bowled very well up front. Yeah, look, it’s just small things like that. If they’d have started a bit better there, and I thought the spinners bowled very well considering they were still only one down even going through that middle period. They never really got on top of them, as such. It was quite easy on the pitch, as well, to manipulate them around. But all credit to them and the way they bowled. I was very pleased the way we kept going on the field, as well, coming down the back end. Just a lot of enthusiasm and a lot of energy shown then. It was quite easy to drift away, but no one really shied away from the task of either taking the ball or in the field, which was pleasing.
Q: William, do you take something out of, any positives out of that game or do you just put it behind yourself and switch to Zimbabwe?
WP: You’ve got to put it behind yourself pretty quickly. The tournament’s back‑end fixtures come pretty quickly for us. After being 40 for 4, Babble (Andrew Balbirnie) and Kev (Kevin O’Brien) put on a very good partnership there. And the way Dockers (George Dockrell) survived that back end when the lads were coming pretty hard and aggressive at him, the way he played, and Maxie (Max Sorensen), as well, that’s very good that the lads have got out there and got a bit of time in the middle, as well. I think Dockers has got the potential to be a very good player for us with the bat, so it’s nice for him to go out there and show what he can do, as well.
Q: How daunting was it to see South Africa bat like that today and how they batted on Friday? You guys are still pushing for a quarterfinals spot, and you’re still alive, but there’s a gap between some of those top teams in the top eight. There’s going to be a bit of a gap. Do they look a bit scary at the moment, South Africa?
WP: I wouldn’t say scary. I don’t think anything is scary, but I think the way they’re playing, they’re playing very well. Hashim (Amla) at the top is a massive player for them, and if they can bat around him ‑‑ not bat around him, but if he sets the platform, it’s just not a case of that, but the way he’s gone about it, and a lot of their big scores, he scored a lot of their runs at the top and set the platform for everyone to come down the back end. But to knock him back you’re going to have to take wickets and a team is going to have to do that against him to restrict him because the middle order can come in and strike it pretty quickly.
Q: You’ve played so much of your cricket over the past four years against teams outside the top eight. When you face three fast bowlers of that quality all bowling at over 140, does that sort of make that gulf in standards really apparent because you obviously don’t face that kind of bowling most of the time.
WP: Yeah, there’s obviously not ‑‑ I’d say out of a few countries there’s not a lot of bowlers that consistently get it up over 140, and to have three on your side is a great thing to have. When you can turn to those lads, obviously we wouldn’t mind a couple, as well, if we can produce them. I wouldn’t say it’s daunting, but when they come out and bowl very well like that, they can make it difficult, and they managed to get those early wickets. Obviously 400 is a massive total, but we lost some wickets and we obviously struggled to set up any kind of platform for some kind of go at the end.
Q: I suppose today’s result doesn’t really change much really. You go to Hobart on Saturday and it’s as big a game as ever?
WP: Yeah, like every game throughout is a two‑pointer for us, and Hobart is no different. Now we’ve got to take what we can from this game and move forward, and obviously two points up for grabs, and it’s a pretty big two points for us.
Q: Do you feel its a make or break for you on Saturday?
WP: I don’t think it’s make or break. I think every game for us, we’ve gone into it looking for those two points. We did it against the West Indies, UAE and here again today, and against Zimbabwe it’s not going to be any different. Obviously we pick up two points, then we’re on six, and then we move to play India, but we’re going to prepare for Hobart as we have for every other game and improve with this game and keep doing the good things we’re doing well.
Courtesy: ICC
