00:01Hi Leroy.
00:02Hello.
00:03All the best for the tomorrow's match.
00:04You have come through a very lead match in the initial group stage of this match where
00:10you went against England also all out for 69, 97 against Australia.
00:15After that, India's match winning against three UKs, we won against India.
00:20From that time, you have not looked back.
00:23So my question will be, how tough will be facing Indian team here in Mumbai for the
00:29final, where not only the mental strength of Indian team because they have scored a very
00:34huge rounds last match, again, crowd will also be there.
00:37How do you prepare yourself for tomorrow's match?
00:40Yeah, it's going to be a very tough game.
00:42I think, you know, with the whole crowd behind India, probably a sold out stadium, it's going
00:49to be a very exciting opportunity.
00:51But at the same time, I think it puts a lot of pressure on them as well.
00:54They, you know, have the whole country behind them and are sort of expected to win, I guess.
00:59And so, yeah, I think it sort of plays in our favour, hopefully.
01:04We're very excited for the game.
01:06They're a very good side.
01:07We're going to have to play some really good cricket to beat them.
01:10But we're really excited for the opportunity.
01:12Laura, each of the last three World Cup contests against India, you know, you've emerged
01:17on the winning side.
01:19How much of a factor is that going to be tomorrow?
01:22Yeah, we're trying not to think too much about the past at all.
01:26I think, yeah, like I said before, every cricket game starts at zero.
01:30We can't sort of bring any of our history into this game, whether it be finals that we've
01:35lost or games that we've won against India.
01:37We're just really trying to erase all of that stuff and start completely afresh in this game.
01:41Yeah, I think there's big pressure on both teams to perform.
01:44And I think whoever stays the calmest under that pressure is going to most likely come
01:48out on top tomorrow.
01:50South Africa defeated India in the league stage.
01:53And you can always take inspiration from that match.
01:55But we have also seen, you know, Australia defeated India in the league stage.
01:59But India were a different side in the semifinals.
02:02So what kind of contest you expect in the final and any lessons that you have taken from your
02:09previous meetings?
02:10I think knockout cricket is completely different to league cricket.
02:14I think like we've seen, I think people are able to do some very special things in
02:18knockout games, like we saw from Jamie the other night.
02:21So I think, yeah, it starts totally afresh.
02:24I don't think we're going to be looking into our group game against them.
02:27We know we have to play some really good cricket.
02:30They're a really strong side and have just come off of a really good game as well.
02:33So they'll be high on confidence.
02:34So, yeah, we'll just have to play some good cricket.
02:37Stick to our basics.
02:38Stick to what we've been doing well throughout the tournament.
02:40Hi, Laura.
02:43Coming to this ground where you have not played a single match this World Cup yet,
02:47what do you think will be the biggest challenge to quickly assess the conditions,
02:50apart from the crowd factor?
02:52Because conditions might be batting friendly and you had said in Gowati that might be good for
02:56you, but it's a headache for you while setting the field.
02:59Yeah.
03:00I enjoy it as a batter, but not so much as a captain.
03:03The super flat wickets.
03:05But yeah, like you said, obviously it's going to be a really big crowd.
03:08Probably the biggest crowd that a lot of our girls have played in front of.
03:11A lot of eyeballs on the game, a lot of added pressure.
03:15And yeah, probably pretty batting friendly.
03:18So it might be pretty high scoring, which is why I think if we're just able to stay really
03:22calm, it will be really important.
03:24It may feel like there's a lot happening tomorrow, you know, with boundaries and the
03:28crowd and the noise.
03:30But I think we just need to stay as grounded as possible and as focused as we can on the
03:34moment and what we need to do.
03:36Laura, hi.
03:37This stadium will be, you know, tomorrow's sea of blue with all the Indian supporters there,
03:4690% or maybe one more.
03:48How do you plan to silence the crowd?
03:50Hopefully we win.
03:52I guess they will silence them.
03:55Laura, this is the first time that neither Australia nor England will be there in the
04:04final of the Women's ODA World Cup.
04:06So does that mark a shift in sort of, you know, powers of the game in women's cricket?
04:12And how good is it for the health of the sport that you see India and South Africa contesting
04:16this match?
04:17Definitely very good for the health of the sport.
04:19I think it's very exciting that we have a potential new champion of the World Cup.
04:24But yeah, I think it just shows how much the women's game is developing and how different
04:28countries are being able to use new resources and develop really good quality cricketers.
04:33I think like you've seen with the Indian team, the WPL, how many new cricketers have sort
04:38of surfaced and what good cricket they've been playing lately.
04:42I think we've also come a long way as a team and really proud of the strides that we've made
04:46in the last couple of years.
04:48So yeah, I'm very excited for the opportunity to be able to play in the final.
04:53Hi Laura.
04:54Congratulations on reaching yet another final.
04:58I just want to ask, how has the heartbreak of the previous final losses shaped this team's
05:06mindset and approach going into this final tomorrow?
05:10I think for me personally is I'm really trying not to think about the result.
05:15I think in those finals or the first time I was in the final, you automatically think
05:19about the trophy and think about winning and think, sort of get excited.
05:22And now I'm just really trying to stay present.
05:25We still have a really big game ahead of us against a really quality side.
05:29I'm trying not to think too far ahead.
05:31Just really need to focus on what I need to do tonight at practice and then what I need
05:35to do tomorrow morning.
05:36Just really sort of slow it down.
05:38I think the first time you're in those finals, it's sort of, it feels like a really big,
05:42fast paced, you know, event, whereas I think we need to all slow it down and take a big
05:47breath and hopefully we're able to do that as a group.
05:52Hi Laura.
05:53All the best for tomorrow.
05:55We've been meeting a lot of South Africans over the last couple of days and we keep asking
05:58them.
05:59Both the countries are in similar situations.
06:00It'll be a first World Cup win for either of them.
06:03But then every South African tells us, you know, you guys deserve it, but we wanted 5%
06:07more.
06:08It'll make a difference 5% more.
06:09What does that mean?
06:10What do you think this will tangibly do back home in terms of, I'm not saying you should
06:14look that far off, but given that you're in a final, you're like one step away from
06:18winning a World Cup, what does it mean for South Africa as a country perhaps?
06:21Yeah, I think both teams really want it 5% more.
06:25Both captains will probably tell you that.
06:28But yeah, for us, I think it would just be really special for women's cricket in the country.
06:32You know, we've recently got domestic league introduced, so I can only imagine what something
06:37like a World Cup trophy would do back at home.
06:40Just the amount of girls that will be able to see it on TV, that will be able to hear that
06:43we're a World Cup winning nation is hopefully very inspirational.
06:47Yeah, it would be awesome.
06:51Just following upon that and all the best.
06:54The Cape Town final marked a significant moment in a women's game in South Africa.
06:59Could you talk about the development that's happened since and the impact it has had in
07:05both finals and again what it means to be here to have a chance at going it again?
07:10Yeah, that game was pretty special.
07:12Obviously the first time we were in the final, being at home in front of a home crowd, a sold-out
07:18Newlands was pretty special.
07:20And since then we've seen domestic contracts be introduced back at home.
07:23So yeah, now we have the opportunity to go one step further and I can sort of only imagine
07:28what it could do for women's cricket in the country.
07:31Either way, I'm still really proud of the group though.
07:34I think we've had a really good tournament up until this final and I think we've already
07:38created quite a lot of noise back at home and been getting a lot of messages from different
07:42people who have sort of started watching women's cricket because of this tournament.
07:46So that's really cool.
07:48Yeah, hi Laura.
07:51I just wanted to ask you about Marizan Kaap.
07:54You know, we obviously know like she's a great and the kind of performance she put on
08:01in the semi-final, like that was amazing.
08:03So what is it to have her in the side and what kind of stuff does she, you know, talk to
08:09you guys about and how the conversations with her are like?
08:12Can you tell us a bit about her work ethic and everything?
08:15She's probably one of the hardest workers in the side, probably hits the most balls,
08:21does the most prep, which is saying something for, you know, how good she is.
08:26She probably doesn't need to do half of that work because she's so talented.
08:29But yeah, I think she's, she gets a lot of confidence from her preparation.
08:34So I think she's always real specific on the way that she prepares.
08:37She's probably the most specific person I've seen training wise out of everyone that
08:42I've trained with.
08:43She sort of has to do things in a certain way.
08:46And I think that shows in her cricket.
08:48She's been one of the best in the world for a very long time.
08:51I think just because she's so consistent and doesn't ever, you know, slip up on her prep.
08:57Yeah, she's two players in one.
09:00I think she could probably play for any side in the world as a batter or as just a bowler.
09:04So we're very lucky to have her.
09:07And then experience wise, she obviously has all the knowledge in the world cricket wise.
09:11So she's able to share that in the dressing room.
09:13So yeah, we're very fortunate to have her.
09:15Let's say the last two questions.
09:17Um, captain, just touching on the mental resilience part of the squad in terms of how it all began with 69 all out and then there was a high as in terms of how the performance this goes usually for the teams in terms of the
09:32performances goes usually for the teams in terms of the ebbs and flows of the game that we know.
09:36But then 69 and the 97, how much of digging deep you had to do as in to put out those tough sessions,
09:44not just out in the practice sessions, but inside the room.
09:48So I know no camera is watching, nobody is watching, having those sort of conversations.
09:52What was the role, how much of imprint of your head coach that he has had on your campaign,
09:58if you can talk about that?
09:59Yeah, I think those games were definitely more of a mental switch or coming back from those games,
10:05a mental switch than it's something we've done in training.
10:08I think, you know, we don't just lose our skill or gain our skill overnight.
10:12It's definitely just a couple of games that we had to put behind us and we were able to bounce back really well
10:17from those two games on both occasions.
10:20I think Manla's been awesome with that, just really taking the positives and taking the learnings out of those games
10:27while at the same time not sort of dwelling on 69 all out.
10:32I think if we focused too much on that and, you know, it wouldn't have been a good campaign for us.
10:36So I think we took the learnings, put it behind us and just really focused on the next game and what we needed to do well.
10:43Hi, Laura.
10:44Just one question from back home.
10:46So we know you're not someone for the big Coach Carter speeches in the dressing room,
10:50but what is the one thing you'd say to your team ahead of probably the biggest game of their lives,
10:54facing hosts in there in front of more than a billion people?
10:59Yeah, Manla normally does the really inspirational stuff, the you're carrying your country type of thing.
11:05And then I think I just come in with a little stay calm, girls, at the end.
11:12I think, yeah, I think it'll be super important for us to just stay as present as we can tomorrow.
11:18There's going to be a lot of noise, a lot happening, a lot of maybe different routines than you're used to in a normal game.
11:25But at the end of the day, it's just a game of cricket.
11:27And I think whichever team is able to do the basics for longer throughout the game
11:32and sort of hold their nerve for longer, I think the game goes and ebbs and flows
11:36and there will be periods where they score a lot of runs and periods where we fight back and so forth.
11:42So I think just holding our nerve and staying calm is going to go a long way tomorrow.
11:45Thank you so much.
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