There will be expectations but we can only control what we do on the field: Sophie Devine

Ahead of New Zealand's opening game of the Women's World Cup against West Indies, skipper Sophie Devine says she understands that there will be a lot of expectations on her side, given that it is being played at home. But at the same time, she adds that they can only control what they do on the field and nothing else.

“This tournament has been a long time coming and there is absolutely going to be nerves, there is going to be pressure, there is going to be expectation," Devine said in a press conference ahead of the tournament.  

"We'd be silly to think that those things won't be there, especially being a home World Cup and the host country, there is expectation there. 

“But again, we've spoken at length as a group that we can only control what we can control and that is out on that cricket field.  We're embracing all the small wee different things but there's a lot of familiarity. 

"Obviously coming back here to Bay Oval, we have played a lot of cricket here, we've done a lot of training camps here, so it's nice to come back to familiar surroundings.  

“At the end of the day, we just need to focus on what we can control and it's another game of cricket, so we just need to make sure that we're tuned into that.” 

The World Cup in New Zealand is being played a year later than it was supposed to and Devine says her players are excited to play at home. “It's hugely exciting. It's been a tournament that’s long been coming up with Covid delays here and there but to think that we finally here, tomorrow it all kicks off, it is certainly extremely exciting,” she said. 

“I know this group is ready, we have obviously had fantastic prep, we have come off a heavy diet of cricket over the summer and I don't think we could be any better prepared heading into this World Cup, so we're really excited to finally get going. 

"It'll be interesting to see how the sleep goes tonight. I've tried to have a few naps today and they've not been that successful!”

West Indies captain Stafanie Taylor, on the other hand, says that the pressure the hosts are under is of no concern to her but acknowledges they have to be at their best to beat New Zealand.

"We don't talk about if they're under pressure. I think that's for them, we tried to zone in on us and what we need to do to perform well," Taylor said.

"We had a practice session today and we worked on areas that we need to work on to prepare ourselves for tomorrow.  

“Anything we do tomorrow, we just know we have to do it well, you have to play to the best of your ability. New Zealand is in good form, but it's all about the day and who’ll perform.”  

West Indies failed to score in excess of 200 in both their warm-up matches - against India and Australia. She says they'll have to breach that figure in order to be competitive.

“We had our meeting and we said that to be competitive, we have to be scoring over 200 runs and, in the two games that we played, we didn't do. So that's something that we've had a look at and moving forward that is something that we need to work on.” 

New Zealand and West Indies will kick off the Women's World Cup on Saturday (March 4) at Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui.