White Ferns captain Sophie Devine celebrates 100 runs during the ANZ 20/20 series match between the White Ferns and South Africa. Photo / Photosport.co.nz
White Ferns captain Sophie Devine celebrates 100 runs during the ANZ 20/20 series match between the White Ferns and South Africa. Photo / Photosport.co.nz
It was unfamiliar territory - the White Ferns in an increasingly perilous position against an opponent they had never lost to, the first match of their Twenty20 World Cup campaign teetering on the brink of an upset.
Veteran batswoman Suzie Bates had just departed, her uncharacteristically awkward resolve ending witha tame chip shot to cover, a panicked attempt to alleviate the stifling pressure of the run chase.
61 balls remaining, another 70 runs needed. Step up Sophie Devine.
Just short of seven overs later, a piercing blade through backward point put paid to any chance of an upset, the sixth four of another impressive unbeaten innings, a record sixth consecutive international T20 half-century. The Ferns victorious by seven wickets, Devine's match-winning exploits a theme the cricket world is fast becoming accustomed to - a player at the absolute height of her powers.
Yet it wasn't that long ago that she had to summon every inch of her willpower to pick up a bat. It's been only two short years since Sophie Devine considered giving up the game she now finds so effortless.
"I couldn't actually understand for a while there why I couldn't be an All Black until someone said, well, that's the men's team. That whole visibility of women's sport when I was growing up was really limited," she says.
"I wanted to play sport for New Zealand, I didn't care what it was."
White Ferns captain Sophie Devine celebrates South Africa's Laura Wolvaardt being caught during the match between the White Ferns and South Africa. Photo / Photosport.nz
So she became a dual-code international before her 20th birthday - handed her international cricket debut in 2006 at the age of just 17 before representing the Black Sticks three years later.
Devine's dreams of Olympic glory were shattered when she was cut from the squad shortly before London 2012. And while she describes the disappointment as "gut-wrenching" it rekindled her love affair with cricket - and sparked one of women's cricket's most remarkable comebacks.
Since taking guard again at the top level in September 2012, Devine has averaged 39.7 (with a strike rate of 86.5) in ODIs, and 36.2 (130.5) in T20s.
Sophie Devine's 75* was her sixth consecutive T20I half-century.
"Although it was disappointing [not making the Olympics] I have no regrets about the time I spent on [hockey]. Being part of that environment has certainly taught me a lot," Devine says.
This year alone, the 30-year-old Wellingtonian has been named Australian Big Bash player of the tournament, where she averaged 77, and this month she scored her first international T20 century.
She had to overcome the second setback in the space of a few years when, in 2018, she was diagnosed with depression - a time she calls the "toughest" of her life.
"I couldn't actually stand the sight of cricket. I was in a really bad place.
"At the time it was horrible. I don't wish that on anyone, but I know now how common it is and the importance of speaking up about it and sharing experiences."
Devine missed a White Ferns tour because she wasn't in a headspace to be travelling with the team, and fell short of playing her best.
Through the help of her family, professionals and friends; Devine got herself out of that hole. She's recently been rewarded with the White Ferns captaincy and her scintillating form has followed.
"I know what it's like to be down at the bottom and I know how lucky we are now. You certainly make the most of the highs, but you do keep a level head, because you know that black cloud is never too far away. It certainly keeps you on your toes.
"I have certainly been through a lot in my life and experienced a lot of situations, good and bad. I think for me now I have a sense of perspective."
Devine knows she is not the first sporting international to be swallowed up in a sea of anxiety and depression. Professional sport is a pressure-cooker occupation.
"You know cricket isn't everything. It's about being able to switch off from it and have perspective to know people are in a lot tougher positions than you are, when trying to win a cricket game.
"It is all just part and parcel of life."
Nieces Holly and Thea are another reality check about the trivial nature of professional sport, Devine says.
"The two nieces don't give two shits whether you've scored a hundred runs or no runs.
"They just love you for who you are, and for what love you bring them."
Blaze's captain Sophie Devine plays shot during the Womens' Super Smash cricket Final match between the Wellington Blaze and Auckland Hearts at the Basin Reserve. Photo / Photosport.co.nz
In her own words, Devine hasn't had to hold down a "real job" - she has been paid to play sport in one way or another since her teens. So when quizzed about life after cricket, her plans are fluid.
Devine wants to coach, to advocate for women's sport and, possibly, become a mother.
For now, though, she's enjoying the opportunity of leading a "great bunch of girls" –some nearly 10 years her junior.
Devine shares a special bond with the most recent debutant, 22-year-old Jess Kerr. The pair both have diabetes and Devine stresses how important it is for those diagnosed to realise they can still pursue a career as an athlete.
Devine was diagnosed when she was 15, drastically losing weight and crying to her mother about the prospect of having to give up sport.
But she and former test players Craig McMillan, Craig Cumming and Wasim Akram are all examples that you can play at the highest level with diabetes.
She also has the backing of former captain and good mate Bates, who is blown away at the consistency of Devine's run scoring, culminating in her record knock in Perth at the weekend.
The Kiwis were been runners-up at the first two T20 World Cups in 2009 and 2010, but haven't made it past the semifinals since. Lifting the trophy on March 8 would be a dream come true, Devine says - but having been a part of the failed campaign in 2018 she now knows it wouldn't be the end of the world if the Ferns didn't.
That realisation, coupled with the practice of on-field meditation in those pressure moments, has brought about a calmness that wasn't always there, Devine says.
"We are in a really privileged position to be able to be playing sport for a living and doing it as a job. Sometimes you do get carried away with it and get your knickers in a twist about a decision not going your way or you lose a tight game.
"You only have to look at the people out there that are doing it tough and you certainly know where you stand."
