Sophie Devine

Some Lesser Known Facts About Sophie Devine

• Sophie Devine is a New Zealand sportswoman who has represented her country in cricket as well as field hockey. She has been a part of the New Zealand women’s national field hockey team (Black Sticks Women) as well as the New Zealand national women’s cricket team (White Ferns). She broke the women’s T20 record for the fastest century in January 2021 by scoring 100 in 36 balls for Wellington Blaze in a match against Otago Sparks in the 2020–21 Super Smash.

• It was her father and brother, both sports enthusiasts, who embedded a love for sports in Sophie’s heart. She spent her childhood playing multiple sports, everything from cricket, hockey, soccer, basketball, and netball and joined a local club in Tawa when she was five. She was a part of the boys’ premier hockey team at the Tawa club. While recalling her childhood in an interview, she said,
  

  I had family that loved sport as much as I did, we’d spend hours in the front yard, till the sun went down, playing all kinds of sports.”

• She secured the bowling ‘wicket’ for the most wickets in the season during her last year at Tawa College.

• She made her first-class cricket debut as a 14-year-old for Wellington Women.

  

• At 15, Sophie was diagnosed with the auto-immune condition of type 1 diabetes.

• She relocated to Christchurch with her family in 2006 as her father was transferred there for his work. After shifting to Christchurch, she started playing for Canterbury Women.

• She juggled between seasons of hockey and cricket, both at the national level while attending university.

• Devine started representing White Ferns at the age of 17.

• She has played 36 tests for the Black Sticks and was picked for the 2011 Women’s Hockey Champions Trophy in Amstelveen, Netherlands in which New Zealand secured third place. Subsequently, she established herself in the series against the US and Australia. She missed out on selection for Black Sticks for the 2012 London Olympics. The same year, she played her last hockey international for the Black Sticks. In 2013, she secured the NZC development contracts following which she pursued cricket full-time. In an interview, while talking about the same she said,
  

  After missing selection for the London Olympics, I was given the opportunity to jump back in with the White Ferns and head to the World T20 in Sri Lanka which was another awesome experience and made me thankful that I had been having the odd hit! With the release of the NZC development contracts in 2013 I was again left with another decision about which sport to pursue and being offered one of these contracts definitely made my decision [to choose cricket] easier.”

  

• She was named to New Zealand’s squad for the 2016 ICC Women’s World Twenty20. She was awarded the title of Player of the match in the match against South Africa during the group stage. She took 4 wickets for 22 runs in 4 overs during the semi-final match against West Indies. On 4 April 2016, she was named to ICC’s team of the tournament.

• In 2015, she was named to the Adelaide Strikers team for the inaugural season of the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL). She was a part of Adelaide Strikers for WBBL|02, WBBL|03, WBBL|04, and WBBL|05.

• In 2016, she became a part of the Loughborough Lightning team for the inaugural season of the Women’s Cricket Super League (WCSL). She joined the Yorkshire Diamonds squad for the 2017 WCSL. During the 2018 WCSL, she again represented Loughborough Lightning. She was the second-highest wicket-taker in the season.

  

• During the 2017 Women’s Cricket World Cup, she secured 93 runs from 41 balls against Pakistan, which included nine sixes, the most by a woman in a WODI.

  

• Devine etched her name into New Zealand cricket history when she won Player of the Year awards in both ODI and T20 women’s categories for the 2017/18 season.

• At the beginning of 2020, Devine took over as captain on an interim basis as Amy Satterthwaite went on maternity leave. She was offered New Zealand captaincy on a full-time basis by July 2020.

• Devine experienced a blockbuster year with the bat during the 2019-20 season. Devine scored her first T20I century in the fourth match against South Africa at the Basin Reserve on 10 February 2020 during the South Africa Women tour of New Zealand and became the first cricketer (male or female) to score five consecutive 50-plus scores in T20 internationals.

• During WBBL|05, i.e. the 2019–20 season, she was named the Player of the series for scoring the most runs, 769, in the series. However, the series was won by Brisbane Heat who defeated the first-time finalist Adelaide Strikers by six wickets in the championship decider.

  

• She was named to the IPL Supernovas team for the 2019 Women’s T20 Challenge. On 11 May 2019, IPL Supernovas won the tournament by defeating IPL Velocity by 4 wickets.

  

• In 2019, she received the ANZ International Women’s T20 Player of the Year award at the annual New Zealand Cricket awards.

• Devine captained New Zealand’s squad for the 2020 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in Australia. In a match against Sri Lanka, which was New Zealand’s first match of the world cup, Devine became the first cricketer (male or female) to claim six consecutive scores of fifty or more in WT20I cricket. ^[3]International Cricket Council She made 105 runs in the match, the second-highest-ever New Zealand women’s T20 score.

  

• Devine was nominated for the ICC Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Decade award in November 2020.

• In September 2021, Devine played in her 100th WT20I in the second match against England during New Zealand women’s cricket team in England. She became the third New Zealand woman cricketer to play 100 T20Is after Amy Satterthwaite and Suzie Bates.

• Under Devine’s captainship, New Zealand Women secured a bronze medal at the cricket tournament at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. On 30 July 2022, she took her 100th wicket in WT20Is while playing against South Africa during the cricket tournament at the Commonwealth Games.

• For the 2021–22 Women’s Big Bash League season, she joined the Perth Scorchers team, which won the series, defeating the Adelaide Strikers by 12 runs in the final.

  

• She played for the Tornadoes team in the 2022 FairBreak Invitational T20; the Tornadoes beat the Falcons by 8 wickets in the final.

• In the 2022 season of The Hundred, she represented the franchise team Birmingham Phoenix.

  

• In 2023, Devine was bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the price of 50 Lakhs for the inaugural season of the Women’s Premier League.

• Apart from hockey and cricket, she is also fond of rugby and has played for Petone ponies, the women’s team of Petone Rugby Club. She often practices Yoga and plays golf in her leisure time.

• She talked about her cricket superstitions in an interview and said,
  

  Not really superstitions just always have to put my left shoe, pad, glove on first!”

• Her favourite cricketers include Brett Lee, Nathan Astle, and Stephen Fleming. Her favourite sporting hero is the Swiss tennis player Roger Federer.

• She is also known for not wearing a helmet when batting, a rarity in 21st-century cricket. In an interview, she talked about it and said,
  

  Actually, I’ve never really worn a helmet. The only time I can really remember is playing boys’ high school cricket and a few boys were going after me, bowling at around 130-135kph, so I put one on. I back myself to get out of the way. If I get hit, I guess it’s my own fault, and probably people will be saying I’m a bit silly for that. But it’s a comfort thing as well and just something that I’ve always done.”

• In an interview, she talked about her hidden talents and said,
  

  I can do the old farm whistle with the fingers in the mouth!”