New Zealand’s faltering title defence threatens to spoil Devine’s farewell
The 2024 champions sit fourth in their group after three games, and with Sophie Devine’s international career winding down, their title defence in England is suddenly hanging by a thread.
Jun 20, 2026
Two years ago New Zealand were world champions for the first time, Sophie Devine lifting a trophy almost nobody had backed them to win. The sequel is going very differently. Three matches into their title defence in England, the White Ferns sit fourth in Group 2 with a single win to show for it, and the maths is already starting to close in around them.
A defence that stumbled from the first ball
The warning signs were there on day one. Hayley Matthews’ West Indies ran down 163 with a ball to spare, Shemaine Campbelle holding the chase together with an unbeaten 90, and the holders had lost their opening game. Sri Lanka then beat them as well, chasing 151 with five wickets standing and two balls left. By the time the Ireland fixture came around, a side that won the whole thing in 2024 was playing for its tournament life against the team ranked bottom of the group.
Even that escape was uncomfortable. New Zealand posted 140 for 6, watched Ireland creep to within touching distance, and only survived because Amelia Kerr struck twice late to seal it by four runs. A win is a win, and they badly needed it, but champions are not supposed to be sweating on the last over against the team ranked below everyone else in the group.
The maths is unforgiving
This is a tight format with no margin for a slow start. Twelve teams, two groups of six, and only the top two from each group go through to the semi-finals at The Oval. New Zealand have already played three of their five group games and banked just two points, which leaves them behind England and West Indies, both unbeaten, and level on points with sides that have games in hand.
Their two remaining fixtures, against Scotland and then hosts England, now look close to must-win. Even a clean sweep might not be enough on its own, because net run rate could end up deciding who slips into second, and three modest performances have not done theirs any favours. The honest read is that New Zealand need to win both, win them well, and hope results elsewhere fall kindly. That is a lot to ask of a team that has not yet found its rhythm.
A farewell that deserves better
What makes this harder to watch is who it is happening to. Devine, now 36, is appearing in her tenth straight T20 World Cup and has already confirmed she will retire from international cricket once the tournament ends. Lea Tahuhu is bowing out alongside her, and Suzie Bates is into the closing stretch of a remarkable career too. This was meant to be a send-off, a last lap for the generation that finally delivered New Zealand a world title. Instead it risks ending in the group stage.
The talent to turn it around is still in the dressing room. Kerr, who took over the captaincy from Devine earlier this year, is one of the best all-rounders in the world on her day, and a batting line-up with Bates and Devine in it does not suddenly forget how to score. What they have lacked so far is a complete performance, the kind they strung together match after match two years ago.
You sense the next week defines how this team is remembered for a while. Beat Scotland and England in style and the champions are right back in the conversation, with the farewell story everyone wanted. Slip up once more and a title defence that promised so much is over before the knockouts, which would be a deflating way for so many fine careers to finish.