"We can't afford to drop someone like Healy" says Amy Satterthwaite

Australia thrashed New Zealand by 33 runs in their group matches on November 14. Alyssa Healy's blistering half-century made the way of their winning and they have sealed their semi-final spot. Talking about that, pace sparehead Megan Schutt said, "It's great. It's the classic case of bird in the hand is better than two in the bush. I think it's great to be locked into that semifinal position, but obviously we won't be taking the next game lightly."



Whereas WHITE FERNS' captain Amy Satterthwaite thought, "we can't afford to drop someone like Healy as early as we did, especially in the form that she's in. Moreover, I think Suzie's batted outstanding. And Katey had some good little outstanding innings and Sophie and myself have not scored any runs in the tournament. We can't be winning games if we're not stepping up in situations like this. We want to try and get a bit more out of the youngsters, but the senior players, some of us really need to step it up."



It was a "bad day" for Megan Schutt after 5 wides. "I was feeling okay. Just you feel let down a little bit, kind of, after a match like that. But at the end of the day we won. Had we lost and I had lost us the game, I would have been pretty bummed. It's cricket, those games happen."



According to Satterthwaite, spinners played really well against Australia. "I thought the spinners I thought lead off very well. And I think Lea still hit the heat we've wanted. And some really good pace in there."



She further added, "It's definitely not a nice feeling. I think especially when I've been playing for so long and throughout my career we've been really competitive with Australia. So to feel like we're probably slipping a little bit, yes, certainly is frustrating. But we've got to keep having the belief that we can win on our day."



On the other hand, Schutt thinks Georgia Wareham is the "x-factor" of the team. "I think a leg spinner in women's cricket is always pretty effective. And she's young and talented and someone that people haven't seen before. So, I think she's going to be really effective for us, and she showed that out there today."



Praising Healy, she told, "I've been on the receiving end of it a few times in Big Bash, but to see it so consistently out here at an Australian level is really pleasing."



"When I was bowling in a powerplay, trying to restrict them from boundaries as much as I can. Dots are great, but if I'm getting smoked for boundaries on the other ball it doesn't really matter. That's all I try to do in the powerplay," shared the plan what she usually does in the powerplay.



While Satterthwaite ended up saying, "It's going to be tough. I think we have to admit that the situation we're in, it's not a nice place to be. But at the same time we have got two games of cricket that, like I said, it's all about pride to a certain extent. And we've got to make sure we keep focusing forward on those ones as much as we can and just trying to keep our heads up and our spirits up to ensure we can go out and perform on the park."