Sophie Devine Steps Down as New Zealand's T20 Captain

Sophie Devine will step down as New Zealand's T20 captain after the Women's T20 World Cup in October, but will continue to lead in ODIs. The allrounder aims to give future leaders time to adapt. She holds the record for scoring six consecutive fifties in T20 Internationals.

New Zealand's Sophie Devine will step down as Twenty20 captain after the Women's T20 World Cup in October, governing body New Zealand Cricket (NZC) announced on Friday. Although Devine will relinquish the T20 captaincy, she will continue to lead the team in One-Day Internationals (ODIs).

"With captaincy comes an additional workload that, while I've enjoyed taking on, can also be challenging at times," the 34-year-old said in a statement. "But I won't be around forever, so I think stepping away from captaining one format at a time gives the next leaders time to find their feet."

Devine, who has set records as the first cricketer to score six consecutive fifties in T20 Internationals, has captained New Zealand in 56 matches in the format, securing victories in 25 of them.

(With inputs from agencies.)