ICC T20 WORLD CUP 2022

October 20, 2022

Max O'Dowd

Scott Edwards

Kardinia Park

Netherlands

Post Match Media Conference

Sri Lanka 162/6, Netherlands 146/9

Q. Can you just sum up the match for us. How was it for you?

MAX O'DOWD: Yeah, well, disappointing, obviously. I think we had a great start with the ball, and the way the guys bowled was amazing, phenomenal. I think to be fair, not taking any wickets helped Sri Lanka. I think it gave them some sort of a solid platform, and then to be fair to their players, they batted extremely well throughout the middle and were able to build some partnerships and really swing at the end to create a bit of momentum.

Yeah, I think there were probably 15 or 20 runs too many there in the end, but fair play, they batted pretty nicely.

Q. It's a tough loss, that one. How did you see that match?

SCOTT EDWARDS: Yeah, I think as Maxy said, bowled really well up top. That was a great powerplay for us. We got a little bit unlucky. I think there was probably three or four balls that were hit straight up and wasn't going to fielders. We built a lot of pressure there, and with wickets in hand they got away from us through the middle and the back end of the innings there.

Then batting, we spoke at the halfway point that 150 was probably par, so we were well and truly a chance to get that, and just wickets throughout, yeah, no one really had enough to hang around with Maxy, and if we did, we'd probably be on the winner's side right now.

Q. Hopefully the tournament is not over for you yet, but how have you seen it so far?

SCOTT EDWARDS: Yeah, they're just cutthroat tournaments, aren't they. We think we've played a lot of good cricket in all three of the games. But yeah, the nature of these tournaments, one little slip-up, 15, 20 runs and you can be knocked out. Hopefully UAE can get up and we're still going tomorrow and on.

Q. Scotty, what happened with the ball? The guys have been so disappointed in the first two games and seemed to err with more lines than lengths it seemed today, getting a little leg side, and most sixes were just put-away, pickup shots. Can you put your finger on it?

SCOTT EDWARDS: I think the wicket was definitely a lot better than what we've played on in previous days. In those first two games it was a lot easier to hold your line and your length. A couple of those Sri Lankan boys there were moving around in the crease, got ahold of us, and potentially our lines and our lengths weren't what we needed on that wicket.

At the same time, I think to keep them to 160 in the end there with lots of wickets in hand was still a good effort.

Q. So that trick play was a lot better than the other two?

SCOTT EDWARDS: Yeah, I think so. If you look at the amount of boundaries that were scored from both sides today compared to the rest of the four or five games there's been, yeah, clearly a little bit better.

Q. And outside in such a short space of time in the aftermath and you don't know what's going to happen in the next game, but how do you reflect on the two run chases if it does fall that the net run rate doesn't go your way and you get knocked out on that?

SCOTT EDWARDS: Yeah, I suppose it is what it is. In terms of -- it's quite hard to build a net run rate chasing on those wickets, just the nature of it. Batting first potentially you can try and get a little bit of a bigger score on and squeeze, but I think chasing it was all about getting to the total. 120 wasn't an easy total just to knock off in 12, 13 overs.

Q. Scott, could you speak a little bit about the emotion for you and among the camp if you've lost? I think starting from the qualifiers, you lost only one consequential game and you could still be out. What's the emotion around that?

SCOTT EDWARDS: Yeah, obviously disappointed, but as I said, that's the nature of these tournaments, especially with this first phase. You've got to win all three games if you want to be sure to get through, otherwise, yeah, you do leave it to a little bit of chance.

Yeah, obviously a little bit disappointed we couldn't go 3-0 and make sure of it ourselves, but yeah, hopefully UAE can do the job for us.

Q. Will you watch the game from the ground or go back?

SCOTT EDWARDS: I'm not sure where we'll be. I think we'll probably have a little bit of a discussion and share a drink together. It's been an awesome sort of month or so, and hopefully it continues, but yeah, just enjoying each other's company.

Q. Scott, obviously you want to progress to the next round, but if it doesn't happen, what are some of the positives you take away from the tournament?

SCOTT EDWARDS: There's a lot of positives for us to take away. We've obviously got quite a young group. You look at Vikram Singh, 19 years old, Tim Pringle, 19 years old, even a couple of the guys who didn't play. We're an extremely young side. There's a lot of upside in the years to come, and I think as I said, we've played a lot of good cricket throughout the first two, even this third game.

Lots of positives to take away, and hopefully we can take them through to the next round.

Q. Was it a temptation to play Shariz Ahmad given that Sri Lanka struggled against UAE's legspinner last game?

SCOTT EDWARDS: Yeah, we had a few different sort of discussions. We've got four or five quality cricketers on the bench, but this was sort of the team that we thought was best suited against these players and in these conditions on this ground.

Q. What's the update on Roelof van der Merwe? He'll have been quite a bit of excruciating pain on that.

SCOTT EDWARDS: Yeah, the Bulldog, he's a hard man to break. He's obviously in a lot of pain, but it was great for him to go out there and give us a little bit of a chance at the end, but I think he's in a bit of pain, and hopefully that settles down in the next few days.