Women's World Cup: Sophie Devine inspired by 2000 title triumph; wants to repeat feat

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Auckland, Feb 26 (IANS) New Zealand skipper Sophie Devine and her team would be looking for inspiration from the 2000 title triumph when they begin their campaign in the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup against the West Indies on March 4.

The White Ferns had defeated trans-Tasman rivals Australia at home to clinch their maiden women's 50-over World Cup title and Devine said that her side will continue to play some "exciting brand of cricket" they have been playing for some time now.

The White Ferns will be entering the World Cup riding on a challenging 4-1 series win against the Mithali Raj-led India.

"We know if we play a really exciting brand of cricket that we can get the whole country behind. That's going to leave a legacy. I think it's something that the Blackcaps did particularly well in 2015. They really did have the whole country behind them and we're hoping we can do something similar in igniting the passion that so many Kiwis have for their sport and hopefully they can get behind us as well."

The 2015 men's Cricket World Cup was jointly hosted by New Zealand and Australia with the Blackcaps making it all the way to the final before losing to their trans-Tasman rivals.

The last time New Zealand hosted a Women's World Cup they came away champions, and Devine has fond memories of the 2000 triumph.

"That was probably one of the first times I'd watched women's cricket on TV and it's not a bad one to watch," Devine said.

"There's a number of us players that were inspired by those players who played in that tournament and it's pretty incredible to think now here we are, some 20 odd years later, hosting our own World Cup tournament with the opportunity to hopefully replicate what they did back in 2000," she added.

--IANS

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