Really important for the group that we stay positive, says NZ captain Devine

New Delhi, Sep 18 (IANS) New Zealand captain Sophie Devine said the team was given the message of staying positive in a bid to overcome their recent struggles in T20Is ahead of meeting Australia in the series opener at Mackay on September 19.

New Zealand face an uphill task to avoid slipping into their worst streak of defeats in T20Is. The white ferns have lost 11 of their last 13 matches since December last year, including losing 5-0 to England in July.

"Obviously the results weren't what we wanted, but we certainly took plenty of learnings away from that. We've had a number of camps where we've addressed where we went wrong and where we need to look moving forward."

"I think it's really important for this group that we stay positive, that we know that we've worked incredibly hard, not just these last couple of months, but leading into that as well. Just because we didn't have the results we wanted from that series, we're still a good cricket team."

"For us it's been a real interesting balance of how we want to approach this series with an eye or so on the World Cup but first and foremost, we're here to win this series … it helps playing the best team in the world, I think that's ideal preparation for us," said Sophie to reporters.

New Zealand have also been boosted by the return of pacer Rosemary Mair, who missed the England tour due to a back injury. "Rocco's worked incredibly hard. She's obviously had a pretty frustrating injury the last couple of months. But she's someone that can bring real pace and bounce to the side."

"I think she's someone that attacks the stumps, which we really like in terms of not only here in Australia, but also over in UAE as well. So we're really looking forward to seeing what she can do. She obviously hasn't played too much the last couple of years, so she's a little bit of an unknown to a few players.”

“So we'll certainly be looking for her to have an impact, but just to have her in amongst the group, I think she's someone that absolutely loves cricket. It's been great to have Rosemary back," added Sophie.

Another player to watch for from the New Zealand camp is fast-bowler Molly Penfold, who recently ended up as the leading wicket taker in Queensland’s T20 Max competition, by taking 14 wickets for Sandgate-Redcliffe.

"It was fantastic to see Molly given an opportunity at the T20 Max and to perform against a different crop of cricketers. There were some quality players there and for her to take as many wickets as she did, it would have given her real confidence."

"She's still a very young player, I think it's important to note that she's still very young in her cricketing career, but her ceiling's massive and that's not just because she's six foot tall. She's got some massive potential in terms of her athletic ability and what she can bring with the ball, but also with the bat."

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