Devine proud of White Ferns’ resilience to reach T20 World Cup final

New Zealand captain Sophie Devine was proud of the resilience and character shown by New Zealand on their way to reach the Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 final on October 18 (Friday). The White Ferns beat West Indies by eight runs in a low-scoring thriller of a semi-final in Sharjah to book their spot in the final, where they will compete with South Africa on October 20 (Sunday).

“The thing that makes me most proud as a leader is the resilience we've shown and the character we've had, not just in this tournament but the last 12-18 months,” Devine said in the post-match interview. 

“Results haven't gone our way, and we've had a lot of stick from the outside, but the belief in what this group is about and what we're capable of doing has been there,” added the 35-year-old who herself wasn’t at her usual best with either the bat or the ball. 

The team from across the Tasman Sea defended 128 and Devine credited wicketkeeper-batter Izzy Gaze for her quickfire unbeaten 20 that made all the difference in the end. 

“The way Izzi batted at the end and scraped through a few extra runs. We thought 130 would be a competitive total - not quite par, but the highest chase here was 127. So we knew we were in with a great shout,” she said. 

Regarding the challenge to face the South African women who deflated the Australian bubble, beating the six-time champions and title holders by eight wickets, Devine was cautious in judging her opponents. 

“We'll celebrate tonight's success, but we're going to win this thing now. It's pretty cliche, but we focus on ourselves and play to the best of our ability, and we'll go a long way towards lifting the trophy. Fingers crossed, hopefully, the cricketing gods are on our side as well,” she said. 

Eden Carson was the pick of the bowlers for the New Zealand side and was rightly adjudged Player of the Match. 

“I'm emotional but proud of the girls. When Deandra Dottin was pumping us... the girls just believed and stuck it out, and we got over the line,” said the bowler with figures of 3/29. 

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