Sophie Devine is a New Zealand sportswoman, who has represented New Zealand in both cricket and field hockey as a member of the New Zealand women’s national field hockey team (the Black Sticks Women) and New Zealand national women’s cricket team (the White Ferns).
Her major focus in the recent past has been cricket. She is one of those batswomen who is known for not wearing a helmet when batting, which is a rarity in 21-century cricket.
Early life
Devine was born on 1 September 1989 in Kenepuru Hospital, Porirua, New Zealand, and grew up in Tawa, a northern suburb of Wellington, New Zealand. She attended Greenacres School and Tawa College.
Her love affair with the game began at a very small age as she started to play cricket and hockey at the age of four. By the time she was 5 years old, she started playing organized cricket. She always had a dream of playing sports for her country.
Throughout her time in school and colleges, she played cricket and hockey in the boy’s team. During her last year at Tawa College, she was awarded for taking the most wickets in a season. By the age of 14, she was playing senior women’s hockey and had made her first-class cricket debut. She was first selected to play for Wellington Blaze when she was just 14. After attending Rangi Ruru Girls’ School for her final high school year she attended the University of Canterbury completing a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Sociology.
When she was selected for the White Ferns at the age of 17 in 2006 she was one of the youngest ever members of the side. In August 2018, she was awarded a central contract by the New Zealand Cricket board. In October 2018, she was named in New Zealand’s squad for the 2018 ICC Women’s World Twenty20 tournament that was held in the West Indies. She has been a core member of the New Zeland women’s team as she contributes with both bat and ball.
Career and Stats
Sophie Devine was selected for the New Zealand women’s national cricket team at age 17 and became one of the youngest-ever members of the team. She has played 100 ODI matches for her country throughout her career.
Sophie Devine has played 102 ODI matches for New Zealand in which she has accumulated 2510 runs with her highest score being 145. She has an average of 32.2 and a strike rate of 83.5. She has 5 centuries to her name and 12 half-centuries. When it comes to bowling she has 69 wickets with an economy of 4.33 and her best figures are 3 wickets for 24 runs.
Devine has had an equally successful T20I career as she has represented New Zealand in 83 matches scoring 1955 runs at an average of 27.9 with her highest score being 73 runs. Her strike rate in the shorter format of the game is 125.2. When it comes to bowling in T20I’s, she has 80 wickets to her name with an economy of 6.14. Her best figures are four wickets for 22 runs.
Achievements
She was named in the ICC Women’s T20I Team of the Year for 2017.
Devine broke the international record for the fastest Twenty20 half-century (from 18 balls), and fastest 70 runs (from 22 balls) on 11 July 2015.
Devine became the first woman to hit nine sixes in Women’s One-day International cricket match. She achieved this in the 2017 Women’s Cricket World Cup against Pakistan.
Devine has also represented New Zealand in hockey as a member of the Black Sticks hockey team.
She was named in the Adelaide Strikers’ squad for the 2018–19 Women’s Big Bash League season.
She was named as the ANZ International Women’s T20 Player of the Year in 2019 at the annual New Zealand Cricket awards.
BioData
Full name: Sophie Frances Monique Devine
D.O.B: September 1, 1989, Wellington
Age: 30 years
Major teams: Adelaide Strikers Women, New Zealand Women, Supernovas, Wellington Women
Sports: Cricket and Field Hockey
Playing role: Batting allrounder
Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm medium
Height: 5’ 8’’
Weight: 75 Kg
Eye Colour: Hazel Brown
Hair Colour: Brown
Nationality: New Zealand
Religion: Christian
Marital Status: Unmarried
Hometown: Porirua, NZ
Zodiac Sign: Virgo
