ICC T20 WORLD CUP 2022

November 6, 2022

Brandon Glover

Adelaide Oval

Netherlands

Post Match Media Conference

Netherlands 158/4, South Africa 145/8

Q. Well, how are you feeling, first of all?

BRANDON GLOVER: Yeah, quite overwhelmed. After the Zimbabwe game we were on a bit of a high, and we said, this is our last one in the World Cup this year, so let's make it a big one. The boys have been working very hard, so to see it come off is very special, and to do it on Stephan Myburgh's final game, as well, is just the cherry on top. Yeah, we're over the moon. Guys are celebrating in the changing room and just enjoying it.

Q. Speaking of Stephan Myburgh, he got you off to the perfect start really. Did you feel from that moment that you were on top of the game?

BRANDON GLOVER: Yeah, I mean, our batting hasn't done exceptionally well in the powerplay, so when we got off to that start, we were like, something is changing here; we just need the complete game, which I don't think we've given yet. So when the batsmen then got that good total, got off to a flyer, we were like, something special is on. The boys were just watching in the room. But yeah, Steph batted incredibly well, very, very happy for him in his final innings, so yeah, great player.

Q. In terms of I guess overall qualification looking ahead to the future World Cup, what does that mean to you just beyond today's win, as well?

BRANDON GLOVER: Yeah, it's incredibly special. We have the potential to qualify in the top four, which will take us through to West Indies and America, which will be extremely special. We've usually been a team which has to go through the qualifiers and go through all those stages and things just to get to the main event. The fact that we now have an opportunity to just walk straight in, I think it's a good confidence booster and very good for Dutch cricket, so hopefully we can take advantage of it.

Q. Over this summer and in the last few games, the Netherlands have been quite close to perhaps bringing a surprise earlier but haven't quite against Sri Lanka and then against Bangladesh. How did it click in the final two games of the World Cup when you turned in potentially your best two performances?

BRANDON GLOVER: Yeah, like I said earlier, we were just waiting for the complete performance. So there was always either something missing in the batting or something missing in the bowling. We didn't quite bring it together. I feel like the last two performances we've just come together better as a team. We know exactly what we need to do. We've been working extremely hard in the background, as well, so I think the whole team is just finally gelling, and us playing our best form of cricket just shows that we're up there, we can compete with the best in the world, and yeah, we've done that.

But incredibly happy for the team. We've come together extremely nicely, but yeah, we just needed to get that complete performance, which I feel like we've done.

Q. You came into the side a little later in this campaign. How do you evaluate your own World Cup?

BRANDON GLOVER: Yeah, obviously I was disappointed not to play, especially in the qualifying stages, but you've got to back the captain, back the coach; they made the right decisions. We got here. There was all combinations and stuff.

I was just tearing at the bit to play. I was working hard in the nets, and then to finally get my chance against Pakistan, I thought, well, I'm not letting this go now, I'm going to keep hammering away, and fortunately I took my opportunity.

Yeah, it's just special for me because it shows hard work pays off. Obviously I was raring to go the whole time. Very happy with how I've gone, and yeah, just nice to be back in the side.

Q. With a lot of Pakistan and Bangladesh fans in the crowd, did you feel you had more crowd support than South Africa today?

BRANDON GLOVER: It certainly sounded like it, yeah. They were shouting for us in the stands for obvious reasons. But it's nice to have a bit of backing in the stands here, hear them shouting our names and hear them shouting for our team. Obviously it just gave us a bit of an edge. Always nice to play in front of a crowd, as well, and yeah, we appreciate the support.

Q. You will know that South Africa have been in this kind of place before in their history. There's a fair few South Africans in your team obviously. Is it a case of once you take the South Africans out of South Africa, you take South Africa out of the South Africans?

BRANDON GLOVER: No, I don't think so. Yeah, there's a strong South African influence in our team, what with Dutch heritage, obviously. Yeah, we chose a different path, and yeah, for various reasons it's paying off for all of us, so we're happy with it.

It's always special to play against South Africa, always nice to stand out there with them. Yeah, like Stephan Myburgh is South African and now he's finished his final game against South Africa and he's done exceptionally well. It's always special, but we love South Africa and all that stuff, but obviously we're dedicated to the Dutch, and we've been working extremely hard for this team, and it's good to see things are paying off now.

Q. What I was getting at is do you think not being part of South Africa is better for players in a mental sense almost?

BRANDON GLOVER: Oh, not necessarily, no. Like I said, it's just the way life has worked out for us.

I'm sure there's always been a tag on South Africa, which we all know. Unfortunately it came off today for them.

But we've just got to focus on our game and our career paths and all that stuff. We took opportunities elsewhere which are paying off.

Yeah, you've just got to go where Mother Cricket takes you and enjoy the ride, myself included. I was born in South Africa, grew up in South Africa, obviously supported South Africa as a youngster. But I've chosen this path. I'm loving playing for the Dutch and want to give my all to the Dutch, and it's the same feeling for everyone else in the changing room.

Q. Now if Pakistan defeats Bangladesh you will qualify for the next T20 directly. What do you say about Pakistan for the coming game against Bangladesh?

BRANDON GLOVER: Yeah, obviously we'll be supporting them. We'll get behind them like they got behind us. It'll be great for us, yeah. We've had a good win now, so it would be great if we could actually qualify for that top four and get straight through to next World Cup and can really focus our efforts towards that.

Yeah, we just focused on the present. We weren't exactly worried about that. We just thought we needed to take this game forward and win this game for us and our country, and yeah, very happy with it. Great team performance.

Q. What was the thought during the halftime after the team reached 158, and were you happy to bat first today?

BRANDON GLOVER: Yeah, I think originally our decision was we wanted to bowl first, but I'll skip' has been absolutely poor with the toss. Out of our hands, but after the flyer we got off to when we batted first, we just thought, this could work in our favour very well, and obviously we put a very competitive score out there, so the bowlers were watching and raring to go out and just -- we've always backed our batsmen, that they'd come off, and they did. It was exceptional performance, and us as bowlers, we're just happy we could uphold our end of the job, and yeah, finish it off.

But great all-around performance, and yeah, chuffed for the batsmen, especially Stephan Myburgh.