Victorious New Zealand captain Devine spoke as well: “Hasn’t sunk in at all yet. Still trying to get my brain back from being fried out there. Really privileged to have an opportunity to play in a World Cup final. Our last couple of overs saved our bacon a little bit.
“I felt we were looking a bit under par. Izzy [Isabella Gaze] battled at the end and scraped through a few extra runs. We thought 130 would be a competitive total – not quite par, but the highest chase here was 127. So we knew we were in with a great shout. This wicket here can be tough.
“We saw in our innings it can be difficult to get [the ball] away. But when you’ve got players like Hayley Matthews and Deandra Dottin in the opposition, the game is never over. She’s [Dottin] a quality player. You can set a field for her, but she just clears it over the top of them.
“It’s about keeping things clear and not being too frazzled. Just having a real clear mind of ‘Did you execute?’ or ‘Did you make the wrong decision of the ball you wanted to bowl?’ So having real clarity on that is important for us. Obviously, we put down a couple of chances. The game might’ve been a little bit easier if we had taken them.”
Losing West Indies skipper Matthews spoke at the post-match presentation: “We bowled really well upfront. Probably just got away [from us] a little bit in the end, but we can’t blame the bowlers. At the beginning of the day, we would’ve taken 128 no doubt.
“We probably just weren’t able to get going early on, and that put us under pressure. We felt they were a few runs short based on the wicket. We just wanted to stay positive, same thing with Qiana Joseph up the order. But we never got going.
“Felt like it never really got out of our hands. Few boundaries [there], and the game was able to change, and that showed when Deandra [Dottin] smacked a few over midwicket. Unfortunately, she got out after that. Kudos to her – she had a great game firstly with the ball and then making sure we had a chance with the bat too.
“It is disappointing for the entire group. I’m incredibly proud of everyone within the team. We saw players that haven’t been on the circuit very much show up at this World Cup, and I think as a group we’ve come together and exceeded expectations. We were able to prove a lot of people wrong.”
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