Devine Urges ICC for Early Starts in 2025 Women’s World Cup Amid Rain Concerns
COLOMBO
New Zealand captain Sophie Devine voiced her frustration on Saturday following her team’s second consecutive match washout in the Women’s World Cup. She suggested that, given the weather forecast, the game against Pakistan could have been scheduled earlier in the day.
Constant rain resulted in New Zealand and Pakistan sharing points, marking the fourth abandoned contest of the tournament at the R. Premadasa Stadium. Both teams have now experienced two washouts each in the competition.
This result kept New Zealand in fifth place on the points table, making their upcoming matches against India and England crucial, while South Africa advanced to the semifinals as the second team behind Australia.
“I hope you saw that South Africa game the other night, where they were delayed for five hours but still managed to get a game in. We were in a decent position today, just needed the rain to stay away—unfortunately, it didn’t,” Devine told the broadcaster after the match.
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“It’s extremely frustrating. You wait four years for a World Cup, and having rain impact it so heavily is disappointing. Hopefully, future editions will consider starting games earlier. Here, the rain tends to arrive in the afternoon, so starting at 10 or 11 AM could allow for a complete match,” she added.
Four out of the nine matches played in Colombo so far have been washed out by rain. | Photo Credit: AFP
Four out of the nine matches played in Colombo so far have been washed out by rain. | Photo Credit: AFP
Devine emphasized that teams want to compete against the best and are disappointed when matches are washed out.
“All teams want to play cricket. You wait so long for this chance to face the best and to have it disrupted by rain is unfortunate,” she said.
“It’s pretty disheartening. We were eager to play today. The team was prepared and just wanted to be on the field,” Devine commented about New Zealand’s mood.
Nevertheless, Devine asserted her team is focused on winning their remaining games to secure one of the two remaining semifinal spots.
“The situation is now very clear: we need to win both games, starting with India in Mumbai. It’s a big challenge, but it’s one we’re excited about. The team doesn’t need extra motivation for this match,” she said.
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“We’ll return to India tomorrow and prepare for the challenges ahead. Our focus was here in Colombo, but now we’ll have a few days to prepare well against India,” she stated. New Zealand will face India at Navi Mumbai’s DY Patil Stadium on Thursday.
“We’ve had good experiences against India recently, including last year’s World Cup, and we’ll draw from those. But we also know they’re favorites on home ground with conditions in their favor,” Devine said.
“This is what you want: to challenge the best teams on their own turf and perform under pressure. We’re eagerly anticipating the challenge,” she added.
Pakistan captain Fatima Sana, whose team remains at the bottom of the points table, aims to put their best foot forward in the remaining matches.
“Our bowling unit is happy, but our batting needs improvement. We have two matches left, and we aim to play well, win them, and conclude our tournament positively,” she said.
Published on Oct 18, 2025
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