New Zealand captain Sophie Devine kickstarted her 2025 Women’s World Cup campaign with the same energy she hopes her team will show on the field – with “a hiss and a roar.” Ahead of their opening clash against Australia on Wednesday, Devine’s confidence was on full display during the captains’ press conference in Bengaluru.
“Records Don’t Matter at World Cups”
When reminded that New Zealand haven’t beaten Australia in eight years – losing their last 15 ODIs to the reigning champions – Devine dismissed the statistics.
“𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕,” 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈, “𝑨𝒕 𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝑪𝒖𝒑𝒔, 𝒊𝒕 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓. 𝑹𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒔 𝒈𝒐 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒐𝒘 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒖𝒔. 𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝒂 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒎𝒑𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒖𝒑. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒈𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒚, 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒏 𝒛𝒆𝒓𝒐.”
The White Ferns skipper insisted that facing their “big sister” in the opening game is a chance to make a strong statement rather than dwell on past struggles.
Backing the Middle Order
Asked about New Zealand’s middle-order vulnerability, Devine backed her players, pointing to strong recent performances. She highlighted runs from Maddy Green and Izzy Gaze in warm-up matches, underlining that contributions will be required across the batting order.
“𝑾𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏’𝒕 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒑 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒓; 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒅𝒅𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚 𝒄𝒓𝒖𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒆𝒔. 𝑶𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕𝒔, 𝒉𝒊𝒈𝒉 𝒔𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒆𝒅, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒃𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚.”
With Australia recently scoring close to 400 in their series against India, Devine stressed that her batters are prepared for high-scoring conditions.
Australia Confident but Respectful
Australia vice-captain Tahlia McGrath also shared her thoughts, describing the trans-Tasman battle as a “friendly rivalry.” She acknowledged New Zealand as a familiar opponent given their frequent encounters in recent years.
“We’ve played them a lot and know each other’s game really well,” McGrath said. “We feel confident heading into this clash and believe we match up nicely.”
Like Devine, McGrath dismissed the 15-0 streak as irrelevant in a World Cup setting, where every match carries massive weight.
New Zealand face a daunting opener against the seven-time champions, but a win would not only secure two points but also set the tone for their World Cup journey. For Devine, the key message was clear: play fearless, aggressive cricket and let the roar be heard.
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