Sophie Devine (c) of New Zealand during the 3rd ODI Match between India Women and New Zealand Women held at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, India on the 29th October 2024. (Sportzpics)New Zealand is one of the teams that knows how to play and win a home ODI World Cup, having achieved the feat in 2000. They come to India for the 2025 edition with as good a chance as any side to go all the way in the tournament. If the fact that they haven’t won the tournament since 2000 is not enough motivation to end the drought, then this tournament, being captain Sophie Devine’s farewell ODI event for the White Ferns should be sufficient for them to lift their game and put themselves as one of the contenders.
The presence of players like Suzie Bates and Lea Tahuhu lends experience to the squad, and the likes of Kerr sisters (Amelia and Jess) will offer the all-round options in the playing XI.
“Everyone’s been putting in the hard yards which has been pleasing to see. The likes of our younger ones, in Eden Carson and Izzy Gaze, they’ve really stepped into their own having been involved with the White Ferns for a couple of years now. I’m excited to see what they will bring to the tournament,” Devine wrote in her column for ICC.
“The older heads like Maddy Green, she’s been excellent and really taken her game to the next level. Brooke Halliday is another really important part of our team. Having that left hander in the line up always makes it a bit difficult for the opposition. It’s evident that this tournament will show the new blood on show in New Zealand as we look to clinch the title for the first time since 2000.”
The White Ferns squad has a number of experienced names, who have played in big tournaments over the years. But if they were to go deep and win the tournament, Amelia Kerr would need to have a great run both with bat and ball.
The 25-year-old will come into the World Cup, having last played an ODI in December 2024. However, having played a lot of Women’s Premier League cricket in India, one would expect her to adapt quickly to Indian conditions and score consistently during the course of the tournament.
Her leg-spin, however, could play a bigger role as the tournament moves on, with the tracks tiring down. Captain Sophie Devine will rely on Kerr to put the brakes on the opposition innings in the middle-phase of the innings and peg them back by taking wickets regularly.
Just under a year ago, New Zealand were crowned the T20 World Cup winners in the United Arab Emirates, with a similar core that is travelling to India for the ODI World Cup. Having broken the global tournament duck recently will help them understand what it takes to go all the way in other global events.
The White Ferns have not had the greatest of runs in recent ODI World Cups, bowing out in the league stage in the last two editions. However, an added motivation to winning the tournament in 2025 would be that this would be Sophie Devine’s farewell event, and to see their captain end her ODI career on a high could make them bring out their best in the competition.
New Zealand will start their tournament with two big matches against Australia and South Africa in Indore, and a positive result in one or both games could go a long way in their pursuit to ending the ODI World Cup drought.
Sophie Devine (c), Suzie Bates, Eden Carson, Flora Devonshire, Izzy Gaze, Maddy Green, Brooke Halliday, Bree Illing, Polly Inglis, Bella James, Melie Kerr, Jess Kerr, Rosemary Mair, Georgia Plimmer, Lea Tahuhu
October 1: vs Australia, Indore
October 6: vs South Africa, Indore
October 10: vs Bangladesh, Guwahati
October 14: vs Sri Lanka, Colombo
October 18: vs Pakistan, Colombo
October 23: vs India, Navi Mumbai
October 26: vs England, Visakhapatnam
1973: League stage
1978: Semifinal
1982: Knockout
1988: League stage
1993: Runner-up
1997: Runner-up
2000: Winners
2005: Semifinal
2009: Runner-up
2013: 3rd place
2017: League stage
2022: League stage
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