White Ferns captain Sophie Devine remembers how "scratchy" and uncomfortable she felt scoring her maiden international 100 - at the 2013 World Cup - in our My First Game series.
You’d think reaching 145 runs in an innings would feel comfortable, right? Not for Sophie Devine.
“I actually felt terrible batting,” the White Ferns captain recalls.
But Devine must have been doing something right that day nine years ago, reaching her first White Ferns ODI century – and at a World Cup.
Then aged 23, Devine had made her ODI debut six years earlier. She was chosen as an all-rounder for the 15-strong White Ferns squad to play at the 2013 ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup.
The 10th edition of the World Cup, it was played in India and the White Ferns played their pool matches in the smaller city of Cuttack, population 682,000.
Compared to the finals played in Mumbai (population just under 19 million), Devine expected a quieter reception.
“But there was a huge crowd, which was really surprising,” says Devine, who describes them as “boisterous”.
“When you travel to India, it doesn’t matter who you are, if you’re playing cricket, you’re sort of deemed a bit of a god.”
It was the White Ferns’ opening match against South Africa, and Devine had come out to bat when New Zealand were at 2-27, having lost opener Lucy Doolan for two runs and Amy Satterthwaite for four.
Devine joined the other opening batter, Suzie Bates, but just couldn’t get comfortable from the outset.
“I have vivid memories of feeling so terrible out in the middle and saying to my partners ‘This is so bad, help me’ sort of thing,” she says.
“I couldn’t find the middle of the bat. I felt really scratchy, like I was never in really good flow.”
Yet Devine and Bates established a 128-run partnership, before Bates was caught on 73. (Four days later, she went on to score a century of her own against eventual Cup winners Australia).
New Zealand cricket fans are used to seeing Bates and Devine combine for big totals, and this was one of the first.
“We’ve obviously now built a pretty strong relationship having played together for so many years. But that was certainly one of the first big partnerships we shared together,” Devine says.
“Suzie’s such a class act and for me, it certainly helps when you’ve got a mate down there you’re really familiar with.”
Devine then forged a 64-run partnership with Sara McGlashan and anchored the innings with Nicola Browne, who scored an aggressive 40 from 20 deliveries.
“Nic Browne could be so destructive and she certainly was on that day,” says Devine, who shared a 102-run partnership with the allrounder.
“I do actually remember thinking ‘Geez she’s making this look so easy. I’ve battled away here and she’s just come in and absolutely tonked it from the get-go. I’ve been trying to swing as hard as I can and feeling like I couldn’t even find the middle of the bat’.”
On the very last ball of the White Ferns’ innings, Devine was caught, after facing 131 balls, hitting 13 fours and six sixes.
“It was almost a bit of a blessing,” she jokes. “I almost couldn’t find the fielders or no matter what I tried, I just couldn’t get myself out.”
Although it might not have been pretty, Devine’s contribution was invaluable. “It’s pretty cool to look back and think that I gutsed my way through it and helped get the team to a really competitive total,” she says.
South Africa didn’t get close to the White Ferns’ total of 321, the Kiwis bowling them all out in the 41st over for 170.
The White Ferns finished fourth at that World Cup; Devine likening the tournament in India to today’s bubble life, with few family members making the trip over.
“Your teammates become your family, particularly over in India where you’re sort of locked up…[it was] certainly very nice to share it with teammates,” she says.
The White Ferns bubble in scenic Queenstown before the start of the World Cup.
Even though it would be easy to say Devine’s innings – her highest in ODIs - was perfect based on the score, Devine took a lot of lessons from it.
“You’re not always going to feel a million bucks out in the middle even if you are scoring runs,” she says. “Sometimes you’re going to be playing ugly cricket and it’s not always going to feel great. That was certainly a really big learning curve for me.”
It would be four more years before Devine scored another ODI century for the White Ferns, with one in 2017 and then three in 2018.
She’d notch up another ton in 2020, but in an arguably tougher format.
The White Ferns were again sent into bat first against South Africa, in the fourth of a five-match T20 series. New Zealand were leading the series 2-1, with this game at Devine’s home ground, Wellington’s Basin Reserve.
Devine opened the batting with Lauren Down, but with Down departing for 11, it was again the partnership with incoming batter Bates that made the difference.
“It was nice to be able to share a long period of time out in the middle with Suzie Bates again, my old mate,” Devine says.
That ‘long period’ lasted from the fourth over to the penultimate ball of their innings, when Devine was run out for 105. Their 142 runs together was the highest second-wicket partnership for the White Ferns in T20 internationals – and still stands today.
“I know I was a little bit lucky in that knock,” Devine says. “I think I got dropped a couple of times, but you sort of ride that. Sometimes it’s your day so you’ve just got to make the most of it," Devine says.
The commanding win set the White Ferns up to take out the series 3-1, with the final match rained out.
“To bring up my first T20 century at the Basin, where I’ve spent so many years bowling millions of balls and whacking heaps of balls in the nets - it was pretty surreal to do that at home,” Devine says.
“That was a really special moment and again, to help the team into a winning position. That was a really strong series for us so it was nice to contribute.”
Devine has batted at every position for the White Ferns, a fact that makes her laugh.
She batted at five in the first ODI of this month’s series against India, but moved up to opening for the rest of the series. It’s a place where she says she feels comfortable.
“The great thing we’ve got in this team now is amazing depth. So if that means I have to bat at three or four, bat in the middle order, I certainly feel confident I can do the job for the team. It’s just whatever’s required, whatever’s needed.”
So does Devine have another century in her for this World Cup?
“Hopefully a couple would be nice,” she says with a smile.
* Devine leads the White Ferns into their final warm-up match on Tuesday, against Australia at Lincoln. Their first game of the World Cup is on Friday, versus West Indies, at Bay Oval, Tauranga. The game will be live on Sky Sport and free-to-air on Prime.
