"T20 cricket is a funny game, a lot can happen very quickly. It's always nice when you get over the line," says Nadine de Klerk.

There are few people in world cricket who have mastered the art of finishing as neatly and as repeatedly with both bat and ball in the past year as de Klerk has. Now, one of the most sought-after all-rounders in franchise leagues, she has taken to her role as a finisher with great success.

In a brief chat with Cricketlineguruji, the South African all-rounder talks about the art of finishing - how she approaches it, the learnings from it and more.

Excerpts:

There has been a drastic improvement in your game over the last couple of years, both as a batter and a bowler, a death overs specialist of sorts now. What's gone behind that improvement?

Yeah. I guess the role that I play, the volume might not always be there. So you might not face as many balls, or you might not bowl your full quota of overs. But it's about making an impact. And been the kind of role that I've been playing right across the world, whether it was in the Big Bash or in the WPL or even for South Africa. It's more about the impact that I can make.

Whatever the team needs from you at any given stage in the game, you just want to contribute and you want to make an impact. So, whether you only bowl 10 balls every game or whether you only face eight balls, it's just about how can you impact the game positively and be really brave and aggressive. And yeah, I guess you're just going to try and be as consistent as you can with it.

You speak about this impact and this consistency. Beyond, of course, the natural skills that are required, what is the secret sauce of thriving in the death?

You have to be brave. There's no time to question your skill or have a doubt. It's about clarity when you walk out in that back end of an innings. Obviously, you need the skills, but it's very much a mental side as well, because you need to be brave, you need to take the game on. You don't really have a lot of balls to settle or take your time, play, get yourself in. You have to play the situation and take the game on. That's the biggest thing - to keep that mentality of looking to be aggressive, putting bowlers under pressure and understanding how you can score runs based on how your game works.

Like I said, because you might only get on average eight or 10 balls to face, how can you kind of impact the game highly with what you have? So you're going to have to take a game on, maybe second or third ball, which you're not necessarily going to have a lot of time to get settled on. That's probably the biggest thing. The same with the ball - how can you execute under pressure when you know batters are trying to get a hold of you?

You're saying this, and a lot of players who sort of thrive in depth, they talk about trusting your skills. What does that really mean and how do you navigate - say, now as a bowler, for example, that on a day when a batter is coming hard at you?

Sometimes when you do bowl at the death, you understand that you're going to travel. And even sometimes if you bowl well, you're going to travel because T20 cricket is a batter's game. But a lot of times, the wickets are quite flat or boundaries are small and you're going to execute and batters are good, so you're going to get punished sometimes. But it's just understanding that this is going to happen. As long as you're executing your skill at the end of the day, because one day you might get smacked around the park, the next day you might finish with figures of two for eight and two wickets for whatever. So T20 cricket is a funny game.

When you train, you obviously train for those moments. You bowl to batters while they're trying to smash you out of the park and you try and train under pressure. So when you do get onto the field and you have to do it in a game that you're prepared for, it's also understanding that it's not going to happen every single time. And that's also OK.

It's the same with the bat. Like bowlers are going to come up with plans against you and will try to keep you quiet. So it's just about whatever you've been training in the nets and whatever you've been doing well, to not move too far away from that, regardless of what's coming your end. Just back that, be positive. It's easier said than done. But I think once you're in that mindset and you have that mentality, nine out of 10 times, you're going to get it right.

Could you help deconstruct this process and thinking with a certain scenario that played out in a game?

First of all, it's probably when you walk out, it's just the clarity to understand what you're going to think obviously is going to come your way - in games where you've kind of managed to get the team over the line or make a or play a cameo innings, it's kind of where you've been very clear and you haven't really thought much about it. Sometimes when you come in at the death, you're trying to think a lot and you're trying to be ahead of the game. Sometimes that kills you. So it's actually just trying to be really calm and understanding that I think your instincts will take over. Like, when a ball is in a certain area, you're going to know where to hit that ball and you're going to know, you're going to look at the field.

So I think that's probably the thing. Every ball you have that mentality of like looking around 'Where's that fifth (fielder)?'. In women's cricket, there's always going to be that fifth gap or fifth fielder that's up. So [a batter is] always looking for those gaps, but also understanding that the bowler is not necessarily going to bowl it for you to hit it there obviously because they have field set. So I think just being really clear on where you want to hit the ball and like I said, committing to that 100 percent.

If it's short, you're going to know where to hit it and you're going to know what your strengths are as well. And the same with the ball. If you're confident in bowling six yorkers, and you know this is your field, you're going to run in and you're going to try and execute to the best of your ability. Like I said, once you clear on that and you commit 100 percent, because you train that all the time, I think seven or eight out of ten times, you're probably going to manage to get it right. You should just stick to your strengths, whether you're under pressure or not.

You've played alongside Marizanne Kapp for South Africa. What's the most valuable advice you've received from her regarding fast bowling or batting in general?

She's actually quite good with a lot of our batters and she will always remind us that, like I've babbled on for now for like five minutes. She would actually remind us all the time that remember what you're good at and keep doing that. That's the beauty of our batting lineup or the group that we have here at the moment. It's like we have so many different skills and different batters and hitting in different areas and playing different shots, which is obviously very valuable to have.

She would encourage people to keep playing their way, regardless of the situation, regardless of who you're batting with. Play your way because you know your way the best. It doesn't help if I try to bat like Marizzane, for example, because that's not what I'm good at. I'm good at the way that I play, and she's good in the way that she goes about it, and everybody's different. So it's great to have her experience and knowledge as well.

Have you ever tried to offer any advice to Marizanne?

(Laughs) No, not really. She's very good at what she does. Obviously I love playing with her. I love batting with her. Like I said, it's always the intent is always very good. The running between the wickets is always very good. She always challenges herself and whoever she plays with as well. So, the only thing I'll ever tell her is just do what you do as well, because I think she's so good at it. She doesn't really have to try and do anything else apart from what she does so well and what she's been doing for many, many years. So hopefully we see a lot of fireworks from her as well.

As a player, the game is going to a place where players are innovating, bringing in new skills, becoming more and more versatile. For someone in the death overs, where they have to be a bit slightly unpredictable as a batter and as a bowler both, what has worked for you purely in terms of the range of skills that you need? Is it more useful to be like a jack of all trades or like a master of a few?

I think a little bit of both, to be honest. But for me, it's like sometimes I feel like - especially when you bat or bowl in that back end, you can sometimes try too many things. Sometimes I feel it's your downfall because you think of where you need to hit it or where you need to find that boundary option. Sometimes you move away from your strengths. So I almost try and narrow it down to maybe three or four shots that I really feel comfortable playing against both spin and seam and then try and stick to those. Sometimes you're going to walk out and you're really going to struggle to get the ball away, and it might not work, and you might have to go to something that's maybe not your go-to, but something that's a backup plan - either with the bat or the ball and you try and execute that on the day.

But I think keeping it really simple, like if you are really good at three or four shots, there's nothing wrong with playing those three or four shots, even if you bat in the back end of an innings. If you don't get it there, obviously you kind of make a plan and you try and adapt on the day. So I guess, it's the same with the ball as well, like stick to those really strong areas. And obviously, if it doesn't work on the day, you can kind of try and adapt, come up with a new plan. Today you might travel and the next day you might bowl the same ball and you might end up with four wickets. So I think it's important to stick to your guns as well.

So you also speak about this clarity. Is there one skill that you kind of trust more than the other or does it vary game by game, the way it's going, the body's going that particular day?

I guess it's day by day. It's nice being an all-rounder because sometimes it's very different. I've been a part of games or series or tournaments where your batting kind of feels like everything's clicking, everything's working, but you don't feel as confident with the ball. Sometimes it's both and sometimes it's neither. So it's nice when it's both, but I think, cricket is such an up and down game, it's nice being an all-rounder. Because sometimes when your bowling is taking a bit of a dip, you still have that batting to kind of make up for that and vice versa. So you just try and stay in it and focus on both skills for whenever it's needed.

You've had reasonable success over the last year or so. What has led to this improvement and what happens after you finish one tour and head back home? What is that process like for you?

I think skill is probably something that obviously comes over a long time and it's something that you work on, but I think it's more from a mindset point of view or mentality. And I think, I really struggled initially in the earlier stages of my career to take on that finisher role and the clarity of how I want to go about it. And I think I probably just cleared up a few things in my head, more on a mental scale and how I want to go about my business.

It's so much confidence and bravery when you walk out to bat and you need 12s, there's only three overs left. And the same with the ball. When you get trusted with that role, it's obviously a massive role to play within any side. So it's more just about being confident and taking the game on. And I think that's probably been the biggest change, more so rather than from a skills point of view.