It’s official: Sunday’s World Cup match between England and New Zealand will be Sophie Devine’s last one-day international. After their loss against India on Thursday, New Zealand can no longer qualify for the semi-finals: the 36-year-old Devine, who made her international debut in 2006 and has represented her country for more than half her life, will not be signing off with another world title.
She still has the chance to finish with a win, though. The New Zealand captain has already scored 266 runs in the tournament, including a century against Australia, so it could be a fierce tussle against England’s attack – and an emotional one. Expect to see tears come the anthems, as well as blood and sweat in the sweltering humidity of Visakhapatnam. “If I’m absolutely carked at the end of it, who cares? I want to be carried off the field in that last game,” Devine said on the BBC’s No Balls podcast last week.
