Veteran all-rounder and New Zealand legend Sophie Devine played her final ODI for the White Ferns on Sunday, having announced earlier that the ongoing Women’s World Cup would be her last assignment in the format. New Zealand’s campaign came to an end with the loss against England in Visakhapatnam.
It wasn’t a fairy tale ending for Sophie Devine, the veteran all-rounder and an inspirational leader for New Zealand, as she brought curtains down on her illustrious ODI career spanning 19 years and 159 matches on Sunday, October 26, in the White Ferns’ final league stage clash of the ongoing Women’s World Cup. It was an emotional morning for Devine, who got teary-eyed as the last part of New Zealand’s national anthem played on and the day ended with both teams lining up together near the boundary to give her a guard of honour to celebrate what has been a long and exceptional ODI career.
“There’s certainly been a few tears, but I just want to go out there and enjoy it… it’s been a real honour,” Devine had said at the toss when asked to explain her feelings on representing and leading the White Ferns for one last time in the ODI format.
It was a disappointing campaign for New Zealand, the reigning T20 champions, marred by rain and Devine, who started with a hundred and a half-century, could muster just 23 in her farewell game. If it were any semblance, Devine did get a wicket in the second innings as England coasted to a chase of 169 in just 29.2 overs.
Devine amassed 4,279 runs in her career, while taking 111 wickets, being the only New Zealand player and overall one of just three players to do a double of 4,000 runs and 100-plus wickets in the format. The 36-year-old also went on to lead the side in 56 ODIs, with New Zealand winning 18 of them. After the game, Devine said that bowling with her great mate Suzie Bates in tandem was a special feeling and that she didn’t cry as much as she expected but was grateful for the love and messages she received during the days leading up to Sunday.
“I actually probably didn’t cry as much as I thought I was going to. There were a few tears in the anthem, but the great thing about announcing it early was that I was able to process a lot of those emotions and, speaking with my support network back home, it was just about enjoying today – going back to the roots of why I played the game 19 years ago: to play alongside my mates.
“Yeah, the result didn’t go our way, but for me, honestly, it was never about the result. It was about finishing here with my mates. It was nice to finish with Suzie Bates bowling down the other end – I had to rig that a little bit – but sharing that with her was really special. We’ll spend a bit of time in the changing room tonight, reflect, have a few laughs and drinks, but I’m just so humbled and fortunate to have done this as a career for 19 years,” she further added as she bid ODIs goodbye.