Sophie Devine breezed into a chilly Indore press room on Tuesday wearing the White Ferns’ black jumper, bright smile and little sign of nerves. New Zealand’s captain knows the numbers – 15 straight ODI defeats to Australia and no win in eight years – but she does not intend to let them dictate Wednesday’s World Cup curtain-raiser.
“You haven’t beaten Australia in eight years,” a reporter reminded her.
“Thanks for that stat,” Devine shot back, before softening her tone. “I think it’s a great opportunity. Those stats are there and we’re aware of them, but at World Cups, it doesn’t matter. I think records and previous results go out the window for us. It’s a really exciting opportunity to take on the reigning one-day champions first up. We love any opportunity that we get to play against Australia. It’s sort of like our big sister. We’re really excited about that. And come game day, both teams start on zero. So, again, really excited for the opportunity.”
The captain kept the mood light, even when the questions strayed. Someone asked whether she had come “out of retirement” to lead again.
“I haven’t retired. I haven’t retired,” she said, laughing. “Are you saying I need to retire? Is that what you’re saying? That’s okay. It’s okay.”
Jokes aside, Devine accepts her side begin a demanding campaign. Australia have arrived with depth in every department and a habit of winning global tournaments. New Zealand, by contrast, have played only a handful of 50-over matches in the past year and still tinker with batting combinations. Devine, therefore, was pleased to highlight recent form rather than past failures.
“…The middle order has been going considerably well,” she insisted. “Maddy Green, Izzy Gaze both scoring hundreds [in the warm-ups]. I know you’re probably talking about official one-day matches, but for us, we’ve built really nicely. We haven’t played a lot of cricket, especially one-day format, over the last six-nine months, but it’s certainly something that we’re aware of. We know that in this competition, especially on some of the wickets that we’re going to face over here in India, that run-scoring is going to be incredibly important. It’s up to everyone.
“We can’t just rely on the top four, we need the middle order. There’s going to be crucial runs scored by the lower order as well at some stage during this tournament. I think if you look to the India-Australia series just before this, 400 nearly wasn’t enough. I think it’s really exciting. As batters, we certainly know that we want to take ownership and responsibility of being the ones that do the bulk of the work. We’re really excited to be able to play on wickets like this, which I think are really conducive for scoring runs.”
Indore’s pitch, freshly rolled and straw-coloured, looked inviting for batters during Tuesday’s training. Local curators expect another high-scoring surface; Devine talked up an aggressive intent, though not at the expense of discipline with the ball.
Spin may prove decisive. Australia carry three front-line slow bowlers; New Zealand lean on Eden Carson and Fran Jonas, with Amelia Kerr providing the control in between. Former White Ferns coach Mike Hesson, speaking on television, suggested New Zealand’s best chance is to “choke the middle overs and back their boundary-hitters” – a plan easier drawn than delivered.
The White Ferns could hand an ODI debut to pace bowler Molly Penfold after her lively spells in the two warm-ups. They must also decide whether to keep Suzie Bates at No. 3, where she struck 61 against South Africa last week, or push her back to the top alongside Bernadine Bezuidenhout. Either way, their seniors will need to absorb Australia’s early pressure.
History suggests the match-up is lopsided, yet World Cups do spring surprises. New Zealand’s last victory over Australia in the format came in 2017, the day Amy Satterthwaite and Bates compiled a century stand in Wellington. Replicating that feat, Devine said, requires belief as much as skill.
A final query returned to the captain’s earlier phrase – hiss and roar. What exactly did she mean? Devine smiled: “Pretty simple, really. We want to be strong and aggressive from ball one, but still smart. If we can do that, who knows?”
New Zealand begin as underdogs, aware of the statistics but keen, in Devine’s words, “to write a new one”. The stage, at least, could not be clearer: two trans-Tasman rivals, a flat deck in central India and the first points of a World Cup on offer.
