Here is the full extract of Brian Bennett’s press conference after the India vs Zimbabwe clash.
(Reporter:)
Bennett had a good chance to score a century. A century in a World Cup is always special. Why didn’t your batsmen give him a chance to score a century? Bennett dropped 97.
(Brian Bennett:)
I’m Bennett.
(Reporter:)
Yeah, you came from 97. Why didn’t your knocks help you get a century?
(Brian Bennett:)
Obviously yes, that would be nice. Look, cricket is just like that, sometimes I don’t always get to that landmark. So I’m thankful for today that I got out there and put in a good innings, but I couldn’t get over the line, yeah, the 250 is going to be tough to win.
(Reporter:)
I mean, your effort to score runs at one end – It was impossible for the other end to run.
(Brian Bennett:)
I just told them when they came in – listen, if you see the ball, just hit it, I guess. Don’t worry about what I want, don’t worry about me, just do your thing and then that’s what conversations are about.
(Reporter:)
Can you talk us through the passing game against Bumrah and especially him shooting for long-on where he kind of followed you and you were able to connect it and hit it to long-on?
(Brian Bennett:)
Yeah, I think he’s always going to be hard to face when we first face him. Apparently a world-class, world-class pitcher. So my thought process was just to follow the ball as close as I could and let my body do it. So, and yes, the ball was in my zone and I just hit it.
(Reporter:)
Well played today. But when India scored 256, such a mammoth total as the team was talking about during the break – while it is of course the highest in this World Cup and the second highest in World Cup history so far, what was going through their minds? I mean of course it came so it’s always too high or –
(Brian Bennett:)
Yeah, I definitely think chasing 250 – 260 will be very difficult. Being able to go out and express yourself, not worry too much about the scoreboard, be yourself, play to your strengths and if it works, it works, if it doesn’t, it doesn’t – and today it didn’t work out the way we wanted, but yeah, look, listen, 250 is always going to be hard to chase.
(Reporter:)
Well played. It was a dream tournament for you personally and you played a key role in the team getting this far. You could just think about your tournament that you just played, not just once, the tournament that you had.
(Brian Bennett:)
Yes, of course I’m very grateful, we’ve done a lot of preparation for this World Cup and luckily for me it’s paid off, but yes, listen, I’m just trying to go through my day-to-day processes, not trying to think too much about how I’m going to get runs. Just when I’m out there, just keep a clear mind, clear head and don’t think too much and I think it’s paying off at the moment.
(Reporter:)
When you don’t play against opponents like India that often, you can come out and score effortlessly against the likes of Jasprit Bumrah and Varun, talk to us about those challenges because even for players who play them regularly, they are really difficult to pick up, but you were quite effortless when you were batting in the middle. So just talk about your challenges facing Bumrah and take Varun and all on.
(Brian Bennett:)
Yeah, I think we obviously did our homework, we got a video analysis of where they’re strong and where they’re lacking. So yeah, obviously facing those guys, you kind of want to take this opportunity to do well and show the world what you can do. I’m just trying to do the simple things better, which is watching the ball, keeping my mind clear, and it came against both of those today.
(Reporter:)
The Bumrah shot happened when you backed up and hit over the top. You also got a scoop towards the end of the shift. So these kinds of shots, when do you choose to play them and how confident are you in making such hard shots?
(Brian Bennett:)
I think obviously before a tournament like this you practice batting in the nets leading up to games like this and the field normally tells you where the bowler is going to look to bowl so the scoop had a bit of pace on the Yorkers so I thought it was a good option with fine leg and third man up. Yeah, and it’s just literally keeping that clear mind. Like I said, the field kind of tells you where the pitcher is looking. So yeah, that’s about it.
(Reporter:)
So, if you look at the current points table, you have pulled off a wonderful upset to get to this stage. The equation is more or less crystallized. So are you leaving this World Cup with happy memories, or do you feel like there’s work left unfinished?
(Brian Bennett:)
Yeah, of course I think it’s the first time we’ve qualified for the Super 8s as Zimbabwe. So obviously there have been many highs in the tournaments so far and we are grateful for that. And look, listen, we’ve got one more game against South Africa, we’ll try and learn as much as we can. I think we learned a lot today from the last two games against West Indies and India. So now it’s mostly just about learning and finding where we can improve as a team and as individuals. So look, listen, it’s not a disappointment in the last two games, but I think we’ve learned a lot and I hope it shows in the future.
(Reporter:)
Brian, you made a very good score today, just missing out on your century. But do you think it was just a replica of the West Indies match you played in Mumbai? Because there you also won the toss and West Indies scored 254 runs. Here you also won the toss and put us to bat and got 256. Don’t you think it was just a fluke, you could have batted first because your betting today was really great and you could have got 200 extra runs. Why didn’t you pick the batting team first?
(Brian Bennett:)
I’m not the captain. I think the captain decided to play first. I think that was the plan all along, was to jump in first and try to limit them. And yes, that was our whole plan. So yeah, it didn’t work out today. We got 250 and it was always hard to chase.
(Reporter:)
You have only been eliminated once in this tournament. As an opener, this is unprecedented. So how do you define the role of an anchor in T20 cricket and how do you do it? If you can go through the process of how you did it?
(Brian Bennett:)
Like I said before, it’s just focusing on what I can do, the simple things better. Obviously to give Zimbabwe a good start in the powerplay and then just continue that momentum in the middle overs with the likes of Raza, guys who can hit big sixes and stuff. But yeah, I wouldn’t say it’s much of an anchor role. I think I go there and try to play positive cricket and try to get those higher strikes. But this tournament I think Sri Lanka was a bit different where the wickets were not as good as here. So maybe that lower strike rate came into play. But I wouldn’t say it’s much of an anchor role, but I’m just trying to do the simple things better.
(Reporter:)
Speaking of the anchor role and all, you hit some big sixes as well. Can you talk to us about your preparation when it comes to power hitting, how did you develop that part of your game?
(Brian Bennett:)
I don’t really smoke much. I think for me, as more of a hitter, I try to get into good positions which allows me to hit sixes like that. I think being in a strong position and being able to get my hands on the ball gives me the best chance to hit those sixes.
