"It's pretty simple for us - we win the rest of our games" - That's the blunt analysis White Ferns captain Sophie Devine has made after her side suffered a critical third loss at this year's Cricket World Cup on Thursday.
The hosts went down to South Africa in a two-wicket upset defeat at Seddon Park, leaving them in do-or-die territory for the remainder of the round robin, including Sunday's match with defending champions England.
Devine, who scored an impressive 93 in Thursday's loss, said the team remains focused though.
"Nothing is different for us," Devine said.
"There may be a bit more outside noise, more pressure externally, but we certainly know what's on the line, and we don't need any help reminding us about that."
The White Ferns had multiple chances to put Thursday's game out of reach with both bat and ball but struggled to close the deal.
After Devine departed in the 41st over, New Zealand lost their final five wickets for just 30 runs, leaving two overs on the board.
After wrestling their way back into the contest with the ball, some wayward death bowling allowed Marizanne Kapp to play the hero and guide her side home in the final over.
Devine conceded her team needed to step up in big moments.
"We've played good cricket for 70 to 80% of the time, it's just that final 20%," Devine added.
"It's World Cup, the pressure's on. We know that with every ball, something's on the line. We were really close again tonight. Ten more runs, we'd have won that game.
"Cricket's a funny game and we have seen in this tournament games are going to the wire. We spoke about keeping out their strike bowlers and get off to a good start, we did that in their first spell but disappointed with the way we finished.
"Now we've got to focus on the positives. If we dwell too long on the negatives and what we could have done differently, it's going to be a pretty miserable dressing room."
The defeat leaves the White Ferns in do-or-die territory. (Source: 1News)
Devine added England will have similar feelings ahead of Sunday's crucial contest, with just one win from their first four matches.
"We have to move forward pretty quickly. We play England on Sunday and it is going to be a cracker of a game.
"They will be hurting as well and it is nice to see so many teams vying for the four spots.
"It's heart-breaking to not get across the line there but our tournament certainly isn't over yet."
SHARE ME