At times this may seem like a potentially difficult situation to endure, but Devine, the New Zealand captain, doesn’t see it that way. “We are very pleased with the position we are in,” he said ahead of Pakistan’s tournament in Dubai. “I think if we had been asked at the start of the tournament that we had destiny in our hands in terms of the semi-final race before our last match, we would have accepted it.
“I guess we’re also lucky to play games that close in our pond. So, we know exactly where the status will be before we play.” [Pakistan]. It’s easy for us, we replicate, we evaluate, we watch the recreation of Australia – “go, Aussie girls” – with an accumulation of passion. “We hope our Australian friends will do us a favor.”
“I haven’t hidden it so many times in various competitions and other leagues where you start focusing on things as small as web run rates. I haven’t hidden it that teams completely lose once they are ready to win,” said. “Cricket has a funny way of biting you in the butt.
“We wanted to make sure we won the [Sri Lanka] game, and yet we did it comprehensively with a couple of overs to spare and wickets in hand. So, we’re in a very good position where we know exactly where our ball is going to go before our last game.
“If they gave us the possibility to approach things in a quite different way, they gave us the option to do it with a team that is really versatile, they gave us a design that could be alternated and we had given an accumulation of spinners, an accumulation of players of bowlers who can come in and out of the side and play a role.”
“I think we’d be more involved if there weren’t problems with painting,” he said. “So you’re right, Pakistan, they have been given a buildup to play games to relate to satisfaction, and clearly with Fatima Sana, you know, she congratulates her people on their loss, and they’re given a buildup to play games for her.
“In World Cup games, you don’t need any more motivation to get out of bed. So we certainly know that maybe it’s going to be a big task and I guess our focus will be on us and making sure we’re OK.” focusing on how we are going to play.”
The event has been booming for Fresh Zealand as performances enter. They lost a 10-match losing streak to overtake Bharat early in their campaign but stumbled against Australia to prevent the run rate from rising.
When asked about the wild fluctuations in fortunes, Devine highlighted how they had been trying to remain even-handed during the ups and downs, rather than letting emotions wear them down in an already intense festival.
“It’s very New Zealand nature that we stay quite placid and calm,” he mentioned. “Sometimes you can get tired riding the rollercoaster, especially at Worlds. Living through the emotions day to day can be quite exhausting. So we talk a lot about being really calm and level in this group and everyone does it a little differently. “
Shashank Kishore is Senior Deputy Editor at ESPNcricinfo
