Australia's Travis Head on their epic 5 run win over New Zealand in Cricket World Cup classic match
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00:00 Welcome to the World Cup Travis. Firstly, to be part of that game, the highest ever
00:08 scoring World Cup match and all that, what was it like in the last 5-10 minutes of it?
00:13 Yeah, I felt pretty confident still but what a fixture. Nice to be involved in it, very
00:22 high scoring, had a little sniff at the end there but we held our nerve really well in
00:27 a high pressure situation so it was nice.
00:30 And just about your innings in that partnership, that's how you guys have been batting for
00:33 a while but just to sustain it over 14-15 overs, did it just come off, was it a game
00:38 plan?
00:39 We've been pretty aggressive I think in the partnership with David and I and yeah I think
00:47 you've still got to give yourself the best chance. It was nice to get two free hits in
00:51 a row myself to sort of get me away and yeah I felt like I've said it for a few months
00:55 I think David's the same, if the runs are going to be presented we're going to try and
00:58 take them, we're going to try and be positive and yeah nice to come off, nice to set a platform
01:01 and get 390. I think we take that every day so yeah, awesome start.
01:08 Travis, since you started opening last year you've been going really hard in the first
01:15 10, I mean as long as you can go hard, you and David are both going hard. Can you just
01:20 talk a little about the strategy of going after the new ball and the change that you've
01:27 had to make from middle order to the top of the order?
01:30 Yeah, it's a beautiful place to bat at the top of the order, two blokes out. Yeah, I
01:36 think we sum it up really, really well, there's times where we can't go as aggressive, there's
01:39 obviously been periods that we have so yeah with two out you want to be as positive as
01:44 we can be if the wicket allows it and I think over the last sort of 12 months the wickets
01:50 have allowed it, they've been pretty good, especially here and especially that wicket.
01:53 So yeah, we've got not going setting out to do it every time, we understand that there's
01:59 different times and different tempos you need to and I think we did that still throughout
02:02 the 20 odd overs that we batted together so yeah, hopefully it continues. We understand
02:08 that it's not going to be like that every day but if we can be as positive as that I
02:11 think it gets us both in better positions, talking about David and myself and our technique
02:15 so yeah, nice start.
02:18 So I'm guessing it didn't take much convincing to get you to open?
02:23 No definitely not, I think that's been a spot that I guess waited for obviously with Finchie
02:27 playing for such a long period and their partnership being so good and the limited chance I had
02:32 I was able to take and sort of waited a couple of years for that spot to open up so, that's
02:38 never guaranteed and they've got to perform and I'm lucky enough to be able to yeah, put
02:42 a string of performances together that hopefully make that a spot where David and I have obviously
02:47 got a great partnership but the next guy whether that be Mitch or whoever so yeah.
02:53 Travis back to the end of the game for a moment, in a position like that in the field are you
02:59 praying for the ball to come to you or are you praying for it not to come to you?
03:03 Well as you can probably tell Danai I've been given a bit of a chance to sort of move, give
03:09 myself the best chance to give myself a chance to see the ball, obviously we're coming back
03:13 from the hands so yeah I didn't expect it to come to me at all really so I'm prepared
03:19 for it but with knowing where Mitch is going to bowl it and knowing where the field's at
03:23 I think I was pretty safe so just sort of had the confidence within the guys, Marty
03:27 made a couple of really really good plays obviously after the unfortunate one where
03:32 it went for six but to make two really really good plays on the boundary is what you need
03:36 in those sort of periods.
03:39 Travis what were the last couple of boxes you needed to tick to get you right for this
03:42 game, I know you were close for that Netherlands game and also just psychologically what was
03:46 it like facing up to Lockie Ferguson and the like given the hand?
03:51 Yeah batting's come back pretty good so I had full confidence in the bowels, very very
03:55 close last game and probably because I probably needed another fielding session I probably
04:00 went in and be underdone and there was going to be risk associated with playing last game
04:04 because I didn't know how it was going to react in the field and then we'll get to a
04:10 stage where we've got to pull the trigger at some point so why not it be tonight and
04:14 so nice to get back with the boys but yeah we probably just missed a couple of extra
04:18 days that we could have done with before the Netherlands but we knew that going into it
04:21 was probably 50/50 last game, 75% this game and 100% for England so and that was six weeks
04:27 ago so we got there in the end and yeah nice it's healed and did the right things and was
04:32 able to get back.
04:33 Were you nervous, were you conscious of it when you're facing really quick bowlers, I
04:38 suppose there's nothing like facing it in a match situation?
04:41 There was obviously that part of the mindset I guess leading into the game on there's been
04:47 little aches and pains throughout, funnily enough once we got the toss come and more
04:53 batting the adrenaline pumped up and it felt pretty good so like I said batting hasn't
04:59 been an issue for the last couple of weeks, it's about how I move in the field and how
05:03 it reacts and now how it pulls up so no we're in a good space.
05:07 The ball seemed to follow Manus there at the end, can you just kind of talk us through
05:12 what you kind of observed from him, I know you're a long way away from him so you're
05:16 probably not gauging his reaction but you know the drop catch or the catch that he missed
05:20 on the boundary and then maybe even one he might have thrown to the wrong end at a certain
05:25 time and then kind of coming back there at the end.
05:29 Yeah I know his mindset, I was obviously close with him moving between the field on that
05:32 side of the ground so I think you've seen how good of a fielder he is, I think he's
05:36 got full confidence in making plays and to knock one back and then to make the run out
05:42 two huge ones.
05:43 He doesn't make many mistakes so a rare one with the boundary but yeah he always wants
05:49 to be in the game throughout the whole 50 overs he's trying to move himself around to
05:51 be in the fixture so that's what we've come to expect from Arne and no surprise that he
05:56 makes a couple of plays tonight.
05:57 And how about just getting a really close win, like all your games so far you've either
06:01 lost by a lot or won by a fair bit, is it almost good in a way to get run really close?
06:09 Yeah well very important to get over the line, we're not really sure, I'm not sure what the
06:14 standings are at the minute and where it looks but yeah rather be on the winning side than
06:18 the losing side especially I guess with dropping a couple of games at the start we needed to
06:22 sort of make sure every post was a winner so to get over in a close one is very, very
06:26 important in this stage of the tournament so nice we're able to do that and hold our
06:29 chances at the end and make a couple of plays and be really calm so very happy.
06:35 Trev well played today, seems like a day for left handers, yourself, David, Rachan, Nishan
06:42 but coming to your bowling was there any discussion in the middle out there saying give me the
06:46 ball with the captain when people were travelling a bit?
06:50 Oh yeah I was always open to it, there's always discussions around it so but nah I felt like
06:57 the way he moved around, tried to get blokes back in the game and yeah I felt he moved
07:03 his bowlers around really, really well.
07:04 There's obviously so many different combinations that you could use and I think that's what
07:07 makes our line up at the moment strong with our all rounders and plenty of options so
07:13 but I thought the way Pat did it today, the composure at the end and the way he used his
07:19 guys was exceptional and why we ended up getting over the line so it was good.
07:26 Trev, just coming into the World Cup the leadership practically made a decision saying
07:33 we'll choose from 14 for half of the tournament because we want Trev there, it's a great vote
07:38 of confidence but does it also bring any pressure, A during the recovery and B when you finally
07:45 come back?
07:46 Nah I didn't feel any pressure and I think that's I guess it just sums up with the way
07:52 the decision was made for the Netherlands game, obviously everyone's very keen, I'm
07:56 on the ground, I feel like I was going well, everyone's pretty keen and the decision making
08:00 and the expectations weren't there so if I wasn't right I wasn't playing and we're
08:06 going to have the stage but definitely at home it was nice to be kept in the squad,
08:10 I understood a lot of things had to go right and personally I'm with the team so and then
08:16 no pressure, I didn't really feel the pressure today I just wanted to come out and play and
08:19 contribute so whether that be tonight, whether that be against England or in the last two
08:23 games so at some stage you want to step up, it's nice to do it straight away and then
08:28 hopefully I can roll onto that into the next three and then hopefully finals.
08:32 Hey Trev, it seemed like you were timing the ball right from the start of the earnings
08:37 today and obviously I'm sure the free hits helped but did you almost surprise yourself
08:41 with how crisply it was working right from the start?
08:44 Yeah after the way I batted over the last little week, probably a little bit, the free
08:49 hits definitely helped, just in a mindset way around movement and obviously taking that
08:55 next step so after only a couple of hits in the nets at full tilt and the training wickets
09:01 were a lot different than the middles so no there's always a mindset there but yeah nice
09:06 to get a few out of the middle at the start and then I just loved getting into the contest
09:10 today and I felt like that was going to always happen in terms of the hand once I got into
09:16 the game and everything that it would go to the back of my mind but yeah nice to spend
09:22 some time out there at the start of the tournament.