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ICC WOMEN'S WORLD T20

November 16, 2018

Anya Shrubsole

Gros Islet, Saint Lucia

England - 87/3, South Africa - 85

Q. Anya, World Cup hat trick is a very special moment for you?
ANYA SHRUBSOLE: Yeah, I'm not sure how. A couple of slow balls came off for me, and then when they hit the stumps, it's something that's pretty special. But I think credit's got to go toward all the bowlers, and in particular, Nat, who was outstanding today.

Q. You just mentioned Nat. Obviously, she's to some extent stepping up in the bowling in the place of injured Katherine Brunt, who's your normal new ball partner. Can you talk about howshe seems to have really stepped up as a bowler in T20 recently. Can you talk about what it's like opening the bowling alongside her?
ANYA SHRUBSOLE: It's been outstanding the last couple of games. She's been brilliant with the new ball. It's something she's done in the past when I guess either myself or Katherine have been injured, and she always does a brilliant job. She's worked really hard in the period leading up to this. I think made a little bit of a technical change, and the ball is coming out beautifully. I think showed it out there today to bowl with the new ball, come back in the middle and bowl at the end. She's got it all really.

We've always known that she's capable of this, and she's a world class all-rounder. I think she's shown it with the bat in the past, and she's really showing it with the ball now in this tournament.

Q. That was a very convincing win out there. That can't have been what you were expecting when you knew you were facing South Africa.
ANYA SHRUBSOLE: I think we always go into these games against all these teams, particularly South Africa. We played them in the summer against them and we know how good a team they are. They've got pretty dangerous players. We know that we're a good team as well, and I think it was close to being a perfect performance for us. I think we bowled really well as a group, the spinners as well.

Probably a couple of mishaps in the field, and then we chased it down. The way Tammy and Dani came out with some real intent and real aggression with the bat, I think probably put them on the back foot. I think the bowlers seem to have had the best thing so far here in St. Lucia. The way they came out and played really put us on the front foot.

Q. The one thing that happened early was losing the DRS review. Can you talk us through kind of that decision being made and then how frustrating that was.
ANYA SHRUBSOLE: Ended up being a terrible review really. I thought it was a bit closer than it was, and then you watch a replay, and you -- look, it was pretty forward. We didn't know how far the ball had to travel, but I didn't think it had gone as far as it had. Me and Amy didn't think it had gone as far as it had.

It's just one of those things. DRS is new to everyone and getting used to it. Unfortunately, we lost it early, but it didn't seem to hurt us. So that was good.

Q. Coming into tonight, you would have known that losing was virtual elimination for both sides, but they seemed to play quite timidly. You played quite aggressively. What sort of mindset did Mark Robinson and Heather ensure that you had going into tonight so you were focusing on the upside rather than concerning yourself with the downside.
ANYA SHRUBSOLE: Trying not to speak in cliches. A lot of it is focusing on yourself. Obviously, a lot of talk on how good a side they are, and they really are. It's about, I guess, having that confidence in yourself. We've come off the back of playing them quite a lot in the summer, and we've got a really good record against them. That's something that gave us a lot of confidence going into the game. All of these things, it's about coming out and being the team that plays the best cricket on the day, and I believe we were today.

Q. And also, amazing support from the 40 or 50 strong crew up there. They sang and danced for the duration of the match. What does that do for you out there knowing you've got this loud group who are behind you and obviously plenty of loved ones amongst that crew as well?
ANYA SHRUBSOLE: Yeah, it's huge. Having that support here, they're pretty vocal. You can hear them all the way through the game, which is amazing. And obviously, it being friends and family, it's really good for them to be here, I guess around training days and match days as well, to have people here that you can go and see, I think it really helps relax things.

I think they've been a massive help to us. So hopefully, they keep coming out and supporting us.

Q. Sorry, another one. You were quite humble there talking about your hat trick, sort of making it sound like it happens every other day. I'm not sure how much you realize, but you're the second woman to take a hat trick in a World T20. It doesn't happen every day. You've obviously not had a chance to think about it yet, but taking a hat trick in a world tournament is a pretty big deal, isn't it?
ANYA SHRUBSOLE: Yeah, I guess so. I don't know. It's one of those things. It's the last over of the game. Obviously, they're trying to score some quick runs, and just the fact that we've got a few balls on the stump, a couple of slow balls that gripped, and then you bowl a bowl at the stump and hope they miss it. So yeah.

Q. Do you remember watching any hat tricks growing up? Did any hat tricks stand out for you on television?
ANYA SHRUBSOLE: There's some. The one I remember probably the most, actually -- I wasn't playing because I was injured surprisingly -- was Nat getting a hat trick in West Indies. I think she's the first English bowler to get a hat trick in an international Twenty20?

Q. Yes.
ANYA SHRUBSOLE: Thank you. It's nice to have two of us now. Thanks.

Q. A victory is a victory. But including your hat trick -- including your hat trick, you got the hat trick. I wouldn't want to take that away from you. Would your bat spinner have liked to have been chasing 130 or 140 and winning the game, knowing that you got to look ahead to Antigua and all of them would have gotten an opportunity to have a hit?
ANYA SHRUBSOLE: I think you've got to win the game. I think there's no -- you can't look too far ahead because you lose this game, you lose this game, we're out. So you've got to win the game. It's the nature of Twenty20. Quite often, your number 5, 6, 7, 8 don't get in a lot. And down the line, we might have to chase a slightly bigger total, but I think you've just got to win every game that's in front of you.

Our batters look like they're in good form, which is really good. I suspect that, should we need to chase more runs down the line, I think we will. But I think the way we went out and batted today, if we were chasing 120, 130, that's kind of how it looked like we were playing. So I think it's there, but you've just got to win the game.

Q. The semifinals in Antigua, you expect England to be able to lift the level very easily?
ANYA SHRUBSOLE: Look, we've got a great game to go yet. I think we can't overlook that. I think momentum is a huge thing in Twenty20 cricket. It's nice to, I guess, kind of have one foot in the semifinals, but we want to come out here and put in a really good performance against West Indies on Sunday, and then we'll start to look to Antigua and adapting to how things might be different out there.

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