ICC T20 WORLD CUP 2021

November 2, 2021

Pierre De Bruyn

Sheikh Zayed Stadium

Namibia

Post Match Media Conference

Pakistan - 189/2 (20), Namibia - 144/5 (20)

Q. You have two games ahead on November 5 and November 8 versus New Zealand and India. Of course, these two are big teams and they're looking forward for your games. Either they will win it on a good margin or bad margin. It depends on Namibia. How can they defeat them or their loss to their teams? So according to you, you will give them tough time or their run record will increase. So you will give them a tough time or the same contest will repeat, I mean like today?

PIERRE DE BRUYN: Yes, we are going in to win cricket games, first of all. But we also know that it's two great cricket teams that we're facing, and they've got their own agenda in how they need to win cricket games and not lose a cricket game, especially not against Namibia.

We are focusing on ourselves. We're learning so much with this experience. We've learned so much tonight. I thought it was a very good -- well, it was an excellent performance by the Namibian team with bat and ball. We know what's coming. India and New Zealand, and they've got -- they need to win properly to make their final stages.

Q. This is your first T20 mega event. What are the takeaways for Namibia in this big event?

PIERRE DE BRUYN: It's enormous. I've said it many times in the media what it means for people back home in Namibia itself for young kids. I read something yesterday in the news that Pakistan has got almost 3,000 clubs. Namibia has got five.

And it's, for us, it's just such a nice story. And I felt that the guys and every Namibian supporter can be proud of that team and how they performed tonight against an absolute world-class team.

The lessons we've learned we'll take with us. We played 40 overs of cricket. And there were stages where we tested them. They were, after 10 overs, they had 59 runs on the board.

And we will take everything with us. It's got us experience and information that we need to grow as a team. So we are very pleased with that performance.

Q. The last two matches have been very tough for you. How will you evaluate your overall performance in the World Cup?

PIERRE DE BRUYN: Well, I think it's been an amazing performance. That's just my opinion. We want to win cricket games. And sometimes you've got to be realistic. I thought against Afghanistan we were a little bit soft in certain areas the way we lost our wickets.

We did a decent job with the ball restricting them to 160. But we beat Scotland. We had to beat Ireland and Netherlands to get to this stage. So in terms of how successful this tournament has been for us, it's been excellent. We're very pleased with that.

Q. Namibia played well in the World Cup. What do you think are the chances if you played in the T20 leagues, like Pakistan Super League, then this is a good chance for the (indiscernible) players and the (indiscernible) of Namibian cricket?

PIERRE DE BRUYN: If you want to announce yourself as a cricket player, this is the stage -- use the stage to show that you can be picked up in some of the leagues. You can imagine how many viewers watched this game tonight and how many viewers are very impressed with the Namibian performances, especially individual players.

I know the players, they will think about it. They're human. And as I said this platform here is the best platform to show what you're about.

It could be one over that will impress someone. It could be one 6 or one great catch or one good innings. And so I really hope that some of these players will get a chance out there. I know they're good enough to do a job in these leagues and I really hope so. Let's see what happens going forward.

Q. How was the experience of Namibian batting against the bowling (indiscernible) of Pakistan? Like, who bowls around 90 miles per hour on a regular basis? I'm talking about Shaheen, Rauf and Hasan Ali.

PIERRE DE BRUYN: That's something that -- it was just amazing for the batters to actually experience that. Because when we qualified for this second round, the Super 12, it was on the lips of every batter on this team; they knew it was coming. And it was ball speed.

They saw it tonight. And they can take so much confidence after this batting performance, getting 144, whatever it was against that world-class bowling attack.

We needed that. And sometimes as a cricket player you just need to experience it yourself to believe that you can do it and that you're capable of facing that. I'm very proud of them.

You look at that bowling attack, it's an outstanding world-class bowling attack. And the Namibian batters, they stood up, chest up and they were up for the battle.

Q. What have experienced players like Albie Morkel and David Wiese have brought to the table? And what kind of inputs have they been giving to the rest of the team?

PIERRE DE BRUYN: Albie has been with me as an assistant coach for three years now. And what he brings in terms of expertise as a player that used to hit big 6s, finish big games -- he played eight years in the IPL, he played for South Africa -- so what he brings in batting discussions is so valuable.

David Wiese, it speaks for itself. David's got the opportunity to talk about it but also to go and implement it and show how it's done, like he did tonight. He never panicked.

And again he showed our batters that the deeper you take it the better chance you have. Both of those guys they're world-class all-arounders. And I'm fortunate as a head coach to have that knowledge around me.