Women’s World Cup: I was under pressure after India series, admits Linsey Smith

4 months ago

Women’s World Cup: Linsey Smith admitted that she was under pressure after she took only one wicket from three wickets. On Friday, Smith won the Player of the Match award in England’s 10-wicket win over South Africa in Guwahati.

Transcript

00:00What are you girls going to do tonight?

00:06I don't think you would have imagined that.

00:10No, I wouldn't have. It's nice to have an early finish.

00:13Not a lot, to be honest. Probably just head back, get some recovery in and get planning for the next game.

00:18Looking at the manager, how good was the wicket?

00:22Was there some resistance? When England back then it looked pretty normal.

00:27Yeah, I think we knew obviously winning the toss and fielding first that hopefully the pitch would get a bit better under lights.

00:34But yeah, I think for us we kept it pretty simple today.

00:37Obviously we didn't know what it was going to play like.

00:39But for me it was just about keeping the stumps in play, which I try and do more often than not.

00:44And yeah, I think that paid off well today.

00:47Hi Lindsay, well done on the performance.

00:53You said you kind of opened the bowling in T20s and T20s regularly, first time in ODIs.

00:59Firstly, when did you get to know that you'd be opening the bowling hang?

01:04Is it like, do you as a bowler plan any different to opening the bowling in ODI as opposed to T20?

01:11So I found out yesterday, which was nice, bit of a heads up.

01:15But yeah, I've done a bit of it for my regional team back home.

01:19So it's nothing that I'm too surprised by.

01:21I think it suits my bowling well.

01:23Obviously I do it a lot in T20s as well.

01:25So yeah, I'm not a stranger to it.

01:27And I think, yeah, I enjoy the competition and the toughness of it.

01:31And yeah, I'm glad that it came off today.

01:34And Natsvogran mentioned that your bowling style kind of helped with what you were facing,

01:42like Laura Woodward or Transmund Wade.

01:44So what, now that the game's done, what is it about your bowling that they decided,

01:49or your team management decided that you would be the front-up,

01:53you'd be fronting up to the South Africa's battle?

01:56Who were among the runners in the past?

01:58I think, like I said before, obviously I've opened the bowling in T20.

02:02So I'm not a stranger to it.

02:04But I think for me and the conversations I had with Nat and Lottie was just about,

02:08you know, backing what I've done well over the years in domestic cricket.

02:12And that's, you know, more often than not try and hit the stumps

02:15and put a lot of pressure on the batters that way.

02:17I think Belly did a great job as well.

02:19And to be fair to every bowler that came on,

02:21everyone seemed to get a wicket in their first over or had a real impact straight away.

02:26So I think as a bowling unit, yeah, we're really happy with tonight.

02:30Hi. Just following up on the previous question,

02:34most of the wickets that you've got were indirect memories to the right handers.

02:40So was the ball based on basic conditions that you were working on?

02:46Or was it based more on the opposition than you were facing?

02:50I don't know why Lottie made the decision to be honest,

02:53but that was what she went with.

02:54And I was happy to, you know, be the one that they turned to.

02:57But for me, yeah, I'm not your most traditional spinner.

03:00I think I'm not going to get the turn and bounce that necessarily Soph gets,

03:04which is why I think we work well together in the team.

03:06But yeah, for me, again, it was just about trying to hone in on the stumps as much as possible.

03:12Yeah, I think obviously we spoke about, you know, getting off on the right foot here

03:25and putting in a really good performance for the first game and taking that momentum in.

03:42But yeah, we're not going to get too carried away or look too far ahead.

03:46I think, you know, Bangladesh next game is another tough challenge

03:49and something that we'll reflect on and plan towards over the next few days.

03:54Yeah, for me personally, I've not changed too much.

04:18I think one thing that Lottie spoke to me about in the prep for this World Cup out here

04:23is that, you know, not to change too much of what I've done that's been successful over the years.

04:27And that for me is obviously just trying to hit the stumps as much as possible.

04:31Not the tallest, so I won't get much bounce, which I think can help in these conditions.

04:35A few kept low today as well, which suited me.

04:39So after today's performance, can you say that you really enjoyed one game?

04:44After today's, yeah. But, you know, next game could be a completely different pitch, so we'll see.

04:49But yeah, like I said, happy with today.

04:52I wouldn't say your World Cup debut today that you made it only even just four months ago.

04:58Did you ever imagine things would be this easy?

05:01No, I wouldn't say it's easy. I think obviously had a pretty tough home series against India,

05:07which, you know, I probably didn't bowl as well as I would have liked.

05:11So yeah, definitely felt the pressure and the nerves coming into this.

05:14But yeah, to start the competition how I have and put in a performance for the team

05:18to get a big win is something that, yeah, I'm really happy with.

05:21Yeah, massively, I think. I always want to contribute as much as I can to team wins.

05:32And I think, yeah, obviously early days in my ODI career,

05:36which is something I've really strived towards.

05:38So yeah, just delighted I could help the team win today.

05:41Sorry, can you repeat that?

05:58Yeah, I think, you know, it's not something we want to look too far into.

06:10Obviously, we're delighted with the win today and started off really well.

06:13I think, like I said, every bowler came on and made an impact and their plans they had

06:18and the execution skills were really high today.

06:21So for us, it's a real confidence booster and we're not going to get too carried away.

06:25But yeah, we'll take it into the next game for sure.

06:27First one, that's the right.

06:32Congratulations, great starter, great dominant.

06:37So you have your next match with Bangladesh.

06:40So what kind of a tactics are you and your team going to take on?

06:43And today's match was, you know, pretty easy.

06:46It looked like pretty easy for you.

06:48And it could break them down.

06:50Because for every, you know, team facing the first opener in a big tournament like ICC World Cup

06:57is always a little bit up there.

06:59So how are you and your team going to take out the next match?

07:04Yeah, I think, like you say, obviously first game is always a tough one.

07:07We didn't expect it to be that strong for us, but we knew how dangerous South Africa were

07:13and the depth that they have in their batting.

07:15So I think the way that we carried on and kept putting pressure on them

07:18is something that we can be really proud of as a group.

07:21Obviously, we saw Bangladesh won their first game as well.

07:24So we know what challenge they'll pose, but yeah, we'll probably just relax tonight

07:28and then over the next few days, really focus on that game.

07:32Thanks very much.

Women’s World Cup: I was under pressure after India series, admits Linsey Smith

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