We love any opportunity to play against Australia: New Zealand skipper Devine

New Zealand skipper Sophie Devine and Australia vice-captain Tahlia McGrath had similar answers when asked about the relevance of the Women in Yellow’s utter dominance over the White Ferns ahead of their ODI World Cup fixture.

For the record, it has been more than eight years since the White Ferns beat Australia in an ODI.

“Thanks for that stat. I think it’s a great opportunity. Those stats are there and we’re aware of them, but it doesn’t matter in World Cups. Records and previous results go out of the window for us. We love any opportunity that we get to play against Australia, who is sort of like our big sister,” Devine said during the pre-match press conference here on Tuesday.

“That’s a pretty good stat. But these [records] are irrelevant in a World Cup, as it is the hardest to win,” McGrath echoed. “We’ve got a really nice rivalry with New Zealand. We call it the friendly rivalry.”

Both of them were in agreement on the characteristics of the Holkar Stadium, which is hosting its first women’s international match.

“Yeah, we’ve gone through the data. It looks like a really high-scoring venue. And just walking across the ground, it looks like such a cool stadium to play in,” McGrath opined.

Devine added: “Yeah, I guess that’s the interesting part of this World Cup. There hasn’t been much women’s cricket played at many of these venues in the past year. It’s pretty exciting. I thought the wickets here were incredibly flat, and the outfield looks brilliant”.