New Zealand captain Sophie Devine wants her side to finish strong against Pakistan in front of the home crowd in the ongoing ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2022 on Saturday.
The hosts currently stand on the sixth spot with four points and would need big wins for Bangladesh against England and South Africa against India as well as one of their own against Pakistan to take qualification down to net run rate to stand any chance of making the knockout stages.
"I think we've got to be realistic about it. I don't know the exact numbers, but we do know that this is likely our final game here and that's how we want to play it. Bob [Carter, head coach] mentioned it in training earlier today that tomorrow will be our final, it's obviously not the final that we thought we would be playing in," said Sophie Devine.
"But we've still got so much passion and pride that we want to make sure that we go out tomorrow and really put on a performance that we're certainly proud of but also all our friends and family and the rest in New Zealand are hopefully really proud of as well. It's always tough to miss out when you get the opportunity to play at home. She told me yesterday that she doesn't have a great track record playing games for the New Zealand side here at Hagley [Oval]," said Devine.
Lea Tahuhu will miss the match against Pakistan on her home ground, but the Christchurch native will be cheering on from the bench.
"She pulled up lame a couple of years ago with another hamstring injury, so I think she's only ever completed two out of four games, so maybe it's a good sign that she's sitting this one out. But we'll certainly miss her experience. I think she's been fantastic with the ball this competition and we'll certainly miss her leading that pace attack. But she'll be supporting from the sidelines. She's certainly really hopeful that we're going to have a full crowd in to support the White Ferns," she added.
The White Ferns take on Pakistan in Christchurch on Saturday in the first game with 100 per cent attendance permitted.
( With inputs from ANI )
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