Stats Analysis

Allrounder for all seasons - Sophie Devine's ODI career in numbers

Sophie Devine took her time to get going, and then took time off to play hockey, but built up a remarkable body of work in ODI cricket before calling it a day

Shubham Agarwal
26-Oct-2025 • 8 hrs ago
Sophie Devine started her innings with dreamy strokeplay, New Zealand vs South Africa, Women's ODI World Cup, Indore, October 6, 2025

Sophie Devine has been the standout batter for New Zealand at this World Cup  •  Getty Images

Sophie Devine is done with ODI cricket, the fixture with England on Sunday at the ODI World Cup her last in the format. That brings the curtain down on a remarkable career, a long one with great all-round performances. Here are some highlights, in numbers.

Built to last

It's been almost two decades since Devine made her international debut as a 17-year-old in 2006. She finishes with the second-longest ODI career for a New Zealand cricketer, male or female. Only Suzie Bates, Devine's long-time team-mate, has had a longer career, having made her debut seven months before Devine.
In between, Devine had paused her cricket career for two years (2011-2012), when she featured for the New Zealand women's hockey team.
The fixture against England is Devine's 159th ODI, the second-most for a New Zealand woman, only behind Bates' tally of 178. Remarkably, she also stands as the only New Zealand cricketer - and just the third women overall - to achieve the rare double of 4000 runs (4256 before her final ODI) and 100 wickets (110) in the format.
Devine has the third-highest runs for New Zealand in women's ODIs and is one among only three bowlers to pick up over 100 wickets.

The emergence of the batter

Devine actually did not bat much at the start of her career. She batted at No. 8 on her T20I debut and was run out without facing a ball. Four days later, she batted at No. 11 on her ODI debut, making an unbeaten 6 off 29 deliveries.
However, things changed after 2013. It was the first time she averaged over 30 with the bat in a calendar year and she didn't look back after that. It was also the time when she started batting in the top five consistently.
But, at the same time, her bowling workload took a backseat.
Since then, Devine has not only been among New Zealand's most consistent run aggregators but also has the best strike rate among those who have at least 1000 runs in this period, also playing 39 of her 107 innings in this period at the tricky No. 4 spot.
The batting numbers have spiked since then.
In 2015, she was promoted to open the innings, which she has done 34 times in her career. In fact, she is one among only five players to have batted at all 11 batting positions in women ODIs.
Devine shone in the opener's role too. She scored five hundreds as an opener, the second-most for New Zealand with only Bates ahead with 12 centuries.
Overall, her total of nine ODI hundreds, four of them as captain and six away from home are all second only to Bates' numbers.
Her 2447 runs away from home are also the second- most for a New Zealand woman cricketer.
In the 2017 World Cup clash against Pakistan, Devine smashed nine sixes - a women's ODI record later matched only by Chamari Athapaththu in 2023. Devine's 93 off 41 balls came at a strike rate of 226.82, the highest for a 50-plus score in New Zealand's ODI history.
Before her final ODI, Devine had 75 sixes - the second-highest in women's ODIs, behind only Deandra Dottin's 91.

Defiance in defeat

While New Zealand's campaign at this World Cup has been marred by poor weather and some mediocre cricket at times, Devine has stood tall as their highest run-scorer: she has amassed 266 runs at an average of 66.5.
In New Zealand's first fixture, she scored a valiant 112 walking out at 0 for 2 while chasing 327 against Australia. It was her third World Cup century, the second-highest for New Zealand. She followed it up with scores of 85 and 63 with wickets falling around her.
Yet, she couldn't save New Zealand from an early exit in this World Cup, a familiar script for a batter who has the third-highest runs in defeats in ODI history.

Shubham Agarwal is a senior stats analyst at ESPNcricinfo

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