Rassie van der Dussen and Glenn Phillips post-match press conference, New Zealand vs South Africa, ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023

South Africa player Rassie van der Dussen and New Zealand player Glenn Phillips post-match press conference (English and Afrikaans) New Zealand vs South Africa, ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023.

South Africa player Rassie van der Dussen 

New Zealand player Glenn Phillips post-match press conference

South Africa player Rassie van der Dussen post-match press conference (English and Afrikaans) transcript

[Reporter:] Rassi, well played, but given that you've already told us anything, I want to ask about Quinny [Quinton de Kock] actually. I'm just kidding. You guys talk about your collective effort, whether it be spreading the runs or spreading the wickets and stuff. But just how inspirational and important is it still to have a guy who's basically racking off centuries like he's been doing and record-breaking in some instances? And are you nudging him to stay a bit longer in the 50-over format?

[Rassie van der Dussen:] It's been so good to have Quinny. He has a determination about him that I haven't seen in a very long time. He's ploughing back into the team in all aspects, in the bowling meetings, in the batting meetings, being one of our senior guys. The guys really feed off him. He's one of my favourite guys to bat with. He really guided me through my innings today. At times I was under pressure and I was asking him about a few options and just to sort of soundboard with him out in the middle. He's such a cool and calm guy out there, thinks so clearly. It was just great to bat with him. But he's been brilliant in the last few weeks.

Like I said, very determined. He's not all talky - he does it out on the field. And I think that's really inspirational for us as a team and the rest of the guys on the team to see a guy like that really come up with a good.

[Reporter:] Very surprised, you were allowed to bat first despite losing the toss. And how is it feeling to be among the runs?

[Rassie van der Dussen:] Yeah, I mean I keep telling the guys I love when we lose the toss because like I feel like when you win the toss and bowl first, you're looking to strike up front and put the batting team under pressure. We would have batted first as well today because last night we were training and it was swinging around a bit. We knew that the dew might come in later, but I think that's a brilliant thing about bowling attack. They struck early and we never even got to a place where the dew played a massive role.

So, yeah, very happy to bat first again today and we keep refining the way we want to play. And we were really good at times today, but also, yeah, I just was speaking to Klaasen just now in the change room and we probably left a few runs out there still.

So, there's definite places to improve. So, we'll look at that tomorrow.

Obviously happy to contribute on the team. It was a full-out team performance. That's really heartening in the changing room at the moment. Everyone's contributing. Even the guys on the bench. We have Shamo sitting out after being man of the match the other day and the guys on the bench, the energy they're putting into the team has just been unbelievable. So, all 15, the staff's contributing, our medical team to get the guys back and ready and reset for every match. Yeah, it’s just been a collective effort and it's good to see the results of that in a match like tonight.

[Reporter:] You spoke about it in the pre-match, about doing the, as you call it, the dirty work in the middle overs. First of all, what does that dirty work in the practice and on the pitch look like to you? And when batting first, there have been scores 300 plus every time. What is the method to that madness that South Africa has managed to achieve while batting first?

[Rassie van der Dussen:] I think, I feel like all the teams, these days, if you don't take wickets, guys will score big against you. And for us as a top order, it's finding that balance between being attacking and scoring runs and also setting the base up for the middle order to come in.

At a stage, Quinnie and I were talking about 300 - 320 maybe, if it all goes to plan. But we've seen so many times what our middle order can do when they get a platform. And luckily today, again, we could give it to them. And they got us to about 360, which was a really good score. We knew it was a good score, but we also knew that it's a decent batting wicket and the bowlers still had to play their part and they did that from the start.

[Reporter:] Can you talk a little bit about how you paced the innings and then you said like Quinny helped you with a little bit of shot selection, what kinds of things were you looking to do?

[Rassie van der Dussen:] Yeah, we felt they were bowling pretty well up front. They didn't give us much. And that's the nature of their team. Obviously, Southee  and Bolt, very experienced, very skilled bowlers. And same for Matt Henry, to be honest. And with their finger spinners, Santner is a guy who probably has some of the best control in the world when he bowls. The other two, we knew we could put under pressure, but they've been bowling well in the tournament so far.

So, they weren't giving us much and we sort of had to fight through that period. And yeah, I kept asking Quinny - if you want me to make a play, just tell me. And he said, no, no, just extend it and just look at your options for the spin, keep playing straight, keep being really relentless if it's in your area but if it's not, respect it because we know how these guys bowl and they're very disciplined with the ball.

So, yeah, it's tough to think of an example now, but I think Mitch Santner was really tough to play today. At the end of the day, he went for 58 in his 10. So that shows us we don't always have to be in fifth gear. We can play in third gear to start with and maybe at the end up it a little bit. 10 overs for 58, we were really happy with him because we felt he bowled really well. It was really tough to score for him, especially.

[Reporter:] I can think of a few World Cups in the past where you guys going into a game against a side like India and the way they're playing and everything else would have been quite daunting for South Africans but now you get the feeling that South Africans actually looking forward to that. I'm sure you guys are as well. But you know, do you think that's is it safe for South Africans to look forward to that game?

[Rassie van der Dussen:] Definitely. I think what we've done really well is in this campaign is we're really just focusing on what we want to do and how we want to play it. In our match review meetings, we keep looking at the numbers with the coaches and so far in this tournament, by most metrics, we're stacking up pretty well. So, at the end of the day, it's almost irrelevant who's in front of you. We know if we play the way we want to play and execute how we want to and take the correct options, especially under pressure, then the result is a byproduct of that.

So obviously, playing India in India is a massive event. They've been playing really well. A lot of experience in their team. They've got all bases covered, brilliant bowling attack and obviously the batting as well. But again, like I said, we'll go into that game knowing that if we do the things well that we want to do, we'll be in a really strong position.

The challenge is to under pressure, to stay with that, and that's what we'll look to do. But we've played them here before and we've beaten them here before. So, in a sense, it's, even though it's a World Cup, it's not really too much different. We won't be looking at that too much. Yeah, if that answers your question.

[Reporter:] [Afrikaans] It was difficult. It seems like it's a theme in a lot of your games. That you don't start so freely and then build up later. And then you know where to get to. Is that a conscious thing of yours? Or don't you always feel comfortable when you're at the beginning of your game? Or is it a mental thing that you still have to get used to?

[Rassie van der Dussen:] So, it's largely dependent on conditions. I think, like I mentioned earlier, as a top order, finding that balance between the risk you want to take and the rate you want to go at and also limiting risk. For me today, the conditions weren't as free-flowing like we've had. In Mumbai, for example, the conditions were really good. So once Reeza and I in that England game got going, it's a fast outfield. It was a really good wicket to bet on, then you can really play good cricket shots and you sort of stay with a runnable strike rate fairly easily.

Today, I felt it was a bit the other way around. You had to really get used to the conditions and the pitch. And I think Quinny at a stage also was going slower than he normally goes, definitely as well. And I suppose that shows you, that tells a story in itself.

So, the important thing for us was to assess that and know that when you get a start to capitalise, to really make them come into your area and keep the pressure on them. Because like I mentioned earlier, if you don't take wickets in this format and guys have a platform to play off, the sky's the limit.

[Reporter:] You spoke a bit about the communication between you and Quinny and how he guided you. Over the course of a long partnership like that, are there opportunities for you guys to just keep it a bit light, to enjoy it and crack a joke with one another and can you take us into whatever that might be?

[Rassie van der Dussen:] Yeah, there are a few lighter moments. At the start, it's obviously pretty tense over bowling well. So, you have a very sharp focus there. But Quinny is never too far away from a joke.

I can't think of too many examples today, but he does keep you on your toes. At a stage today, he hit a four, and it was quite obvious he was going for four, and I was looking away, and he was like, "'Rush, rush, rush!" Like, And I looked up as if I should run and he was just like, come on, come on, stay with the game type thing.

So, no, I mean, he's one of my favourite guys to battle with. He doesn't speak too much out there, but like what he says makes so much sense and to get access to what he's thinking on the other end, it's just really good.

[Reporter:] In this tournament, South Africa had the fewest dot balls and yet the most boundaries. It's a rare scenario because teams can usually focus on only one of them. Is this something that you guys talk about when you are laying out your batting plans?

[Rassie van der Dussen:] Like I mentioned earlier, I think that's a result of what we want to do when we're out in the middle. We talk about what's - assessing condition and what's the correct option and always having the correct intent. And that sort of differs throughout the innings, your options, and your intent. But we know if we can tick those boxes, naturally you put yourself in a better position to score and to be in positions to manoeuvre the ball where you want to.

We don't really look to tick those boxes per se, but I think they tell a story in hindsight of where we are and how we want to go about it I suppose

New Zealand player Glenn Phillips post-match press conference transcript

[Reporter:] Just the decision at the toss to kind of choosing to feel first and then kind of playing into probably South Africa's hands because that's been their blueprint. Bat first, big runs on the board and then get the opposition out.

[Glenn Philips:] Yeah absolutely. At the end of the day, we chose to do a toss what we thought was best on this pitch with the information that's been given and that's what we go by every game. Obviously South Africa are incredibly strong batting first but we've got an incredibly good bowling lineup and there was no reason that we couldn't have restricted them to a total that could have been a lot easier to chase on there. Playing on at the end, I definitely thought it got better as well. So, I think had things gone slightly differently, we could definitely have come a lot closer than we did today.

[Reporter:] You've been at the receiving end of two big partnerships in the last two games, Travis Head and Warner 175, today we had Rossi [Rassie van der Dussen] and Quinton de Kock with 200 runs. Picking up wickets in the middle is the key to anything, isn't it?

[Glenn Philips:] Yeah, absolutely. Obviously, it's very different from the two situations where Travis [Head] and Davy [Warner] got off to an absolute flyer, whereas we kept things under control. I think South Africa understood that they were probably a little bit behind the run rate and they obviously came a little bit hotter through the middle and with the pitch not necessarily offering too much turn for the spinners strangling them in the middle became a little bit tough. But we mixed with our plans, we tried our very best to contain them, but when you get two guys on a heater, it's pretty good.

[Reporter:] We've got five on the injury list now. That really puts a spanner in the works?

[Glenn Philips:] Yeah, I mean, every team is combating injuries at the moment. But we'll, we'll see what the scans and the X-rays show and we'll go from there.

[Reporter:] You still have your destiny in your own hands. Looking forward to Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and you win both those games you go through. So that must still give you confidence.

[Glenn Philips:] Yeah, absolutely. It's just two wins away, and that hopefully puts us in third or fourth place, potentially even second. So, I think if we can just keep sticking to our basics, what we do best on the field, everything will be all right.

[Reporter:] You just mentioned that the run rate was a bit low in South Africa's innings, but it seems like that's sort of their blueprint. They're not a team that scores very quickly in power play and then they sort of build up to go to launch at the end.

How does it feel when you're in the field against a team like that? Were you guys thinking about knowing their plans with that being now the launching at the end or did you just feel that South Africa was sort of under pressure with regards to the run rate and still being in control for you guys?

[Glenn Philips:] No, I think we definitely recognized that they were playing the style of cricket that they wanted to play. But obviously, when any team tries to accelerate, you get opportunities. Obviously, Quinton had a little bit of luck today as well, which helps. And sometimes you need that as a batter. And then when that luck goes your way, the runs start to flow, things start to move a little bit, and once momentum starts changing, it's hard to bring it back.

So, a couple of things go to hand today. Maybe it looks slightly different, but obviously then you've got Markram and Klaassen coming in as well, who have been on absolute heaters too.

So, I think for us, we definitely tried our best to combat the situation that we saw in front of us. But as I said, they played really well today.

[Reporter:] Just ask about a couple of things that you mentioned like Quinton de Kock's run out for example and in the last few matches a few basics have maybe gone a little bit wrong. Is there any kind of focus on just getting those things right and are you a little bit disappointed that maybe you guys haven't?

[Glenn Philips:] I mean at the end of the day a couple of tough chances were dropped, a missed run out when his back was turned to the bowler's end. You have no idea where Quinton's actually standing. Obviously, he had a little bit more time than he thought, but at the end of the day, it's not like we've been dropping straightforward chances or creating a lot of blunders in the field. We've definitely put a lot of pressure on the opposition in the field and we've saved a lot of runs and obviously sometimes people drop catches and that's just the way things go.

[Reporter:] The game against Pakistan coming up is going to be on heaters. It's going to be pretty emotional, I guess, with Pakistan pushing for that fourth spot. Do you think that the collective demeanour of the Black Caps remaining calm, provided you can get 11 on the field, will be a big factor in that game - remaining calm in what's going to be a charged atmosphere?

[Glenn Philips:] Yeah, absolutely. We try to remain level-headed throughout everything, not ride the highs too high and the lows too low. So, I think for us, it's go about our business as we've done the whole way through, just keeping things simple, sticking to what we do best. Obviously, the way England, Australia, South Africa, they all play a very aggressive brand of cricket and we've got our own brand and if we stick to it, we know that we're fighters, we keep coming back time and time again and when it matters most, we really put the foot down.

[Reporter:] Considering the kind of injury concerns that New Zealand and Sri Lanka have had, do you think the squad size of 15 is practical in the modern day? Should this be looked at to maybe relax a bit for future tournaments of such scale?

[Glenn Philips:] No, I think a squad of 15 is perfect. We're close enough anywhere in the world to fly someone in at any stage if you really absolutely need to. But you've got 15 players in a squad for a reason and if someone goes down you try and cover your bases and then obviously with rules and regulations being able to bring someone in if someone has an injury concern is I think it's the format is good as it is.

© ICC