Team Australia have once again dominated the T20 World Cup as they seal yet another win for that incredible trophy. It was a heartbreaking moment for South Africa Women who made their Finale entry possible for the first time but couldn’t put their hands on the trophy.
Schutt, who has led Australia’s pace attack for the last decade and has been a part of six of those titles (4 T20s and two ODIs), isn’t tired of the frequent world titles and winning streaks.
“It’s pretty special,” she says. “People keep taking digs that winning is boring, (but) it’s not boring for us. Every time we come, we come to win. This was another one we had to do in front of a crowd that felt like bloody 70,000 people so damn loud.
“We have to keep pushing our standards. We are really hard on ourselves. We reflect on ourselves quite honestly, but we’re trying to make sure we’re as sure as we can be. We’re working hard in the gym, on the field. We field a lot, and we pride ourselves on that, trying to save the runs. That’s where the gap is at the moment. South Africa has the finest bowling attack in the world, they showed that today. The powerplay was brilliant. Fielding is where we are leading the pack at the moment. But that gap is closing for sure.”
Australian pacer Megan Schutt praises her captain Meg Lanning while criticising Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur.
“Meg is a pretty calm character, that’s what rubs on us. That’s what we speak about in pre-match talks. We hold up our calm in pressure situations. Because there are a lot of those, especially in T20s. Being calm in those moments means you’re going to execute better,” Schutt said as quoted by Cricbuzz.
SCHUTT ON KAUR –
The Indian captain had said that Australian players’ body language suggested they had given up when she was taking the game away. Meanwhile, Schutt called the remark ‘bullshit’.
“They were taking the game and we were under the pump. Collectively our last five overs were key. Getting a couple of wickets in there but also providing pressure on all aspects, whether it’s in the field, with the ball or even body language out there. Harmanpreet said our body language was down. I’ll call bullshit on that. We’re just calm. We don’t panic, we don’t take it out on each other if there’s a misfield or a dropped catch. That’s where we stand out as a team.
“Stay calm. It was wrong of Harmanpreet to follow that after getting out (reaction after being given out). It sets the wrong precedent for those coming next. I know she was calm after that and spoke to Deepti. But the damage was done already by then. Being able to compose yourself in that situation. Of course, you’ve to go through a lot of things to figure that out. We’ve had our own losses. Yes, we win a lot, but we’ve had our own clutch moments that we’ve lost and learned from that,” she added.