New Zealand Women’s Cricket Team Prepares for UAE Challenges in T20 World Cup 2024

Wellington [New Zealand], September 21: New Zealand Women’s cricket captain Sophie Devine has shared insights on how the team plans to tackle the challenging conditions in the UAE during the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024.

The hot and spin-friendly conditions in the UAE are vastly different from New Zealand’s usual cloudy and seam-friendly environment. Devine mentioned that the team is focusing on adapting to these Asian conditions. She said, “We have been specific and clear with how we want to play and what we think is going to work in those conditions. We reflected and reviewed how we’d played and what we’d worked on previously and have had a real eye on what the conditions are like.”

Devine emphasized the importance of scoring rates and spin bowling to gain an advantage. “There’s been a real focus on spin bowling, which I’m sure everyone is going to focus on, but for us it’s about strike rate and scoring shot percentages. With the bat, we’re wanting to be really busy at the crease, we know that the conditions might be tough, so every run is going to be valuable. On the flip side, with the ball we want to be as accurate as possible. Staying on stumps and making opposition players play the most difficult shots; this has been a key focus for us,” she added.

Discussing their group, Devine expressed excitement about facing strong opponents like India, Australia, and Sri Lanka. She believes these contests will bring out the best in her team. “When you’ve got India and Australia, as well as Sri Lanka, it’s going to be a pretty tough pool to progress through, but we certainly love our chances coming up against those sorts of teams,” Devine concluded.

New Zealand will start their campaign against India on October 4 in Dubai, followed by a match against Australia on October 8 in Sharjah.