ESPNcricinfo Awards 2024 women's captain of the year: The Devine plan that helped New Zealand win the T20 World Cup

ODIs: P9 W2 L7
T20Is: P16 W6 L10
Three months before the strain of a demanding year led to her taking a mental-health break from cricket, Devine stood on the winner's podium holding the T20 World Cup aloft in Dubai - having turned a team in the doldrums into world beaters.

In that moment, probably even before the magnitude of their achievement had sunk in, Devine spoke of how success at the T20 World Cup didn't give her the right to take her road ahead, particularly as captain, for granted.

Hopefully there's a final hurrah left in an illustrious career nearly 20 years long. But even if she were to not step back onto the field again for New Zealand, her legacy is by now set in stone, with the crowning glory in the UAE as one of her last acts. It was special for the manner in which she led a team through a wretched run of ten straight losses leading into the tournament.

New Zealand were thoroughly outplayed by England, both home and away, while never really being in line to challenge Australia in a three-T20I series prior to the World Cup. When they arrived in the UAE, Devine's side was given no chance on slow and low turners in sapping heat and humidity. But New Zealand turned the tables on India in the very first game.

It set the tone for an inspiring campaign that wasn't without hiccups, like in their pounding by Australia. But Devine was front and centre of a campaign that was methodically planned - rest, cricket schedules, tactics, intelligence from analysts. Everything came together to propel their unreal run to the title.

The upset of India had been ten months in the making, starting with Devine working alongside New Zealand's analysts, scouring footage to identify potential areas of weakness. She backed data with her own experience of playing alongside Smriti Mandhana at Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the WPL. That intel allowed her to strategically place a wide long-off for Mandhana inside the powerplay and the Indian opener fell for the plan, to be caught off offspinner Eden Carson for 12. This kind of well-thought-out decision was the hallmark of Devine's World Cup. It could have all turned pear-shaped but for her innate belief in her team even when it seemed they didn't at times believe in themselves.

When the batting order didn't click ahead of the tournament, Devine was fiercely criticised for not pushing herself up to open at a time of crisis. Instead, she took a punt on 20-year-old Georgia Plimmer, who had averaged under ten in her first year in T20Is.

It was part of a succession plan, for when Devine and Suzie Bates eventually decide to move on. Plimmer's early salvo- 34 off 23 balls - was key to New Zealand's win over India and set the tone for their campaign.

10 Number of T20Is New Zealand lost in a row heading into the T20 World Cup

2 The number of members from the current group - Devine and Bates - who also played in the 2010 T20 World Cup final.

"She has been so outstanding leading this team, so calm and believing in us. I think we'll probably have a cuddle for even longer later because there have been some dark times that only us in that group have been near for when we couldn't get a win leading into this World Cup. We questioned ourselves as leaders, but we just kept backing up, so it's really special."
- Suzie Bates