New Zealand will have to plan for life after Sophie Devine, who bids adieu to ODIs after Sunday’s game, a theme that dominated New Zealand’s pre-match press conference ahead of its Women’s ODI World Cup match against England.

“We spent a lot of time trying to develop young players. We always knew that Soph and potentially Suzie (Bates) soon, and Lea (Tahuhu), they are going to move on. A conscious decision was made a couple of years ago to closely examine some younger players and maintain faith in them,” New Zealand’s head coach Ben Sawyer said at the ACA-VDCA Stadium on Saturday.

Sawyer said that the management has been having conversations with the “leadership group” and that he will reveal who will helm the side in ODIs at a later time.

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“We’ve been having these chats for many years. It started when Soph spoke about stepping away from the captaincy at the (2024) T20 World Cup, and she did that. So even before that, we’ve had those chats,” the coach said.

“We’ve identified players that we think could make up a bit of a leadership group, and we’ve spoken to those who we think will captain the team. But I’ll probably keep that to myself just at the moment.”

For England, the match is all about gaining momentum ahead of the last-four stage.

“If you want to win the World Cup, you’ve got to beat the best teams, whether it’s Australia, South Africa or even India, bring it on. We’re going to have to win,” England opener Tammy Beaumont said.

Published on Oct 25, 2025