Is the New Zealand captain preparing herself for T10? Looking at the scorecard of the match that was played between Wellington Blaze and Otago Sparks, one might definitely feel so.
On Thursday, when the two sides locked horns against each other, New Zealand captain Sophie Devine achieved a landmark feat as she packed a punch with the fastest century in women’s T20 history. Devine muscled 108 off 38 balls and her century came off just 36 deliveries. This innings was played in a domestic game in Dunedin.
Playing for Wellingston Blaze, the 31-year old annihilated the Otago Sparks bowling attack, smashing nine sixes and as many boundaries. Thanks to her entertaining innings, Wellinton Blaze chased down the target of 129 in just 8.4 overs, winning the match by 10 wickets. Maddy Green, who was at the other end, would have felt like a mere spectator as she saw her captain simply whacking the ball all across the park.
🚨 WORLD RECORD 🚨
New Zealand’s Sophie Devine is in the Record Books, again 🙌🎉
She smashed the fastest hundred in the history of women’s T20 cricket, reaching 100 in just 36 balls in New Zealand’s Super Smash competition.
Whatta player @sophdevine77 🙏 pic.twitter.com/YIige0kcg9
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) January 14, 2021
Devine beat the previous record holder, West Indies’ hard-hitting batter Deandra Dottin, who had scored a 38-ball century against South Africa in 2010. The White Ferns’ skipper’s knock is the fastest ever scored by any player on New Zealand soil and has been bettered only nine times by men’s cricketers worldwide.
The innings was all the more stupendous because it was her first match after the quarantine. “I was really nervous this morning, I think when you have a bit of an extended break away from the game you get nervous about can you come back into it. So it’s nice just to spend some time in the middle and get a few out of the screws. For me it was just about playing smart cricket so knowing where my gaps were, trying to manipulate the field. I sort of knew where they would bowl so if I could manipulate myself around the crease, I’d open up areas of the field. Pleased with the way it went today. Sometimes I get a little bit carried away and we’ve probably seen it a little bit, and I get a bit over-eager and play some rash shots. So it’s nice to stick to some decent cricket shots today and finish the job,” she said.
Top 3 – Fastest to Score T20 Century in Women’s Cricket 👇
1⃣Sophie Devine
2⃣Suzie Bates
3⃣Grace HarrisNew Zealand captain Sophie Devine hit the fastest century in women’s Twenty20 history on 14th Jan, taking just 36 balls to reach 100 in a domestic match in Dunedin pic.twitter.com/roDDqU7ZGS
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) January 16, 2021
She now has a record six T20 centuries, four of which have come in 2020. She went past her New Zealand teammate Suzie Bates (five) and trans-Tasmanian rival Alyssa Healy (five) on the list of most T20 hundreds in women’s cricket.
Sophie Devine’s quote sourced from ESPN Cricinfo
I am a former cricketer having represented Mumbai University at All India University level. I was a part of MCA probables for the U-19 and U-23 age group. I have been an avid cricket writer for the last five years. Currently I am pursuing my Ph.D from IIT Bombay.