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Australian captain Pat Cummins praised his team's fielding effort in their thrilling World Cup match against New Zealand, acknowledging that fielding made a significant difference in their five-run victory. Despite concerns raised by Afghanistan coach Jonathan Trott and England captain Jos Buttler about the outfield at the venue, Cummins was pleased with his teammates' commitment in the field, especially Marnus Labuschagne's effort in the last over.
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"Fielding made a big difference. Marnus out there, throwing himself around at the end. Not the easiest fielding grounds here but the boys threw themselves around," Cummins said at the presentation ceremony.
Speaking about the match, Cummins said, "That was awesome. Sometimes I have to remember I was on the field. They kept coming at us. It was fantastic." He also lauded the opening partnership between Travis Head and David Warner, stating, "I loved that, especially from Trav, who has been away. That is how we want to play, take the game on, and they led the way."
Regarding the bowling performance, Cummins mentioned, "It was a good wicket. I thought, in patches, we bowled really well. Other times, we gave too much width away. Some really good partnerships that were tough to get into."
New Zealand's captain Tom Latham also expressed his thoughts on the match, saying, "Fantastic game of cricket. Ebbs and flows throughout. To come so close, obviously it hurts. They played fantastically well and put us on the back foot from the start."
Latham praised his bowler Glenn Phillips, who ended with figures of 3/37, saying, "He bowled fantastically to come and bowl 10 overs for 30 and take three wickets, at crucial times. To bowl his full 10 from one end was great, and his work is paying off."
Reflecting on the run chase, Latham remarked, "When you are chasing close to 400, you have to play the perfect game. Young and Dev (Conway) got us off to a good start. Rachin played an extraordinary knock - one of the better knocks you will see."
Travis Head, who was named the Player of the Match, shared his thoughts, saying, "Nice to be back, nice to be contributing. Very close (game) in the end. Was a hell of a game." He mentioned that he had limited practice heading into the game and joked about having a few bruises that he could strap up over the next couple of days.
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