Despite facing a thrilling one-wicket defeat against England in ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2022 here at Eden Park on Sunday, New Zealand captain Sophie Devine said that she is proud of her team's performance and will take last opportunity to make her country proud.
Opener Suzie Bates was dismissed for 22 and Devine was forced to retire hurt with a back problem in the 15th over, leaving Amelia Kerr and Amy Satterthwaite to negotiate England's spin bowlers.
"I'd always want to be there, so incredibly proud of the girls to take it where they did. We knew we were 40-50 short on that wicket. We were talking last night about what it was to be playing in front of Eden Park. The girls are gutted but that's cricket. We lost 3 games by 2-3 wickets or a couple of runs here and there. If we win those, we are probably looking at a different story," said Sophie Devine in the post-match presentation.
"We have time now to look back and reflect on what we could have done differently. But the difficult thing is that there are probably a billion things we could have done differently over the course of the last 3-4 weeks but there are so many positives to take out. We have one more game left and we will get up for it as it will be our last opportunity to make New Zealand proud," said Devine.
New Zealand's Frances Mackay picked four wickets and took two wickets in an over as England threatened to self-destruct, but Shrubsole's experience came into the force in the final stages to ensure the victory target was reached.
"Something really special about this group is that there's a real high level of care with this group, we genuinely like each other even though we might bicker at things like family. We love each other and this group might not be together once this tournament is over. We will enjoy the last couple of days together and make sure we got out with a bang," she added.
"Lea's hamstring played up again, my back is what it is - it has happened before, probably a hint I'm getting old and time to move on but injuries happen and we have got to grin and bear it. Fingers crossed we can make it to the last game," New Zealand captain continued.
The victory means England's semi-finals prospects are back in their own hands, with wins in their final two matches against Pakistan and Bangladesh likely to see them qualify for the knockout stages.
But New Zealand would hope that skipper Sophie Devine and seamer Lea Tahuhu recover from their injuries for upcoming matches.
( With inputs from ANI )
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