New Zealand Women name Sophie Devine as permanent captain
What's the story
Sophie Devine has been appointed as the new permanent skipper of New Zealand Women. The 30-year-old batswoman had stepped in for Amy Satterthwaite when the latter decided to go on maternity leave towards the second half of 2019. Devine was named skipper earlier this year in the lead-up to the Women's T20 World Cup. Satterthwaite will now return as Devine's deputy.
Devine
Devine expresses her gratitude, hopes to perform better
Devine expressed her gratitude and is now hoping to perform even better with the guidance of Satterthwaite. "It's a huge honor and privilege to be awarded the White Ferns captaincy," Devine said, as per ICC. "I thoroughly enjoyed my time as captain over the past season. It was challenging results-wise at times, but I feel we are moving in the right direction."
Partnership
I'm very much looking forward to working with Amy: Devine
Sophie said she is looking forward to working with Amy. "I'm very much looking forward to working with Amy who has an exceptional cricketing brain and I feel we can form a strong leadership partnership in combination with a well-established leadership group," said Devine. Both women will be crucial in the lead-up to the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2021 in February-March.
Performances
Devine has been impressive of late
Devine went into the World T20 with scores of 72, 54*, 61, 77 and 105. She became the first player with five consecutive 50-plus scores in T20Is. She started her WT20 campaign in style, scoring 75* against Sri Lanka. Devine performed strongly in the WBBL last year - where she finished as the Player of the Season with 769 runs, besides claiming 19 wickets.
Praise
NZ Women head coach lauds Sophie
New Zealand Women head coach Bob Carter lauded Sophie and said she knows what she wants. "Sophie is a strong leader, she has her own style and knows what she wants from herself and the team," Carter said. He highlighted that her leadership helped her perform with the bat last summer and the team has responded well to her leadership style.
Career stats
A look at Sophie Devine's career
Sophie has played 91 T20Is for New Zealand and has scored 2,384 runs at an average of 31.36. She has one century and 14 fifties under her belt at a rate of 126.40. In ODI cricket, Sophie has 2,570 runs in 105 matches at 31.72. She has five hundreds and 12 fifties to her name.