Jones predicts Devine to break Dottin feat

World Cup winner with Australia, former middle-order batter Mel Jones has expects plethora of records to be broken in the upcoming ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, picking up West Indian Deandra Dottin’s benchmark for the fastest ever century particularly to be eclipsed. And she went one step further predicting New Zealand skipper Sophie Devine to break Dottin’s 38-ball record set 10 years ago against South Africa in St Kitts.

“My bold prediction is that Deandra Dottin’s 38-ball hundred might just go this World Cup and if it does I think it will be Sophie Devine,” Jones said. “There is no ground big enough for her and she’s the leading wicket-taker in T20s with the ball for New Zealand as well. She has just this presence, she’s the captain now so I think definitely her from New Zealand (is one to watch).”

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And considering the form Devine is currently if she does, it won’t be surprising. The 30-year-old was at her brutal best accumulating a whopping 297 from four games runs in New Zealand’s 3-1 T20I series win against South Africa recently including her maiden T20I century, a 105 from 65 balls in Wellington, featuring 12 fours and three sixes. That inning was also Devine’s fifth fifty-plus score in five consecutive matches, a new world record – either men’s or women’s – for most consecutive half-centuries in T20i.

Devine was also the leading run-scorer in this summer’s Women’s Big Bash League with 769 runs at an average of 76.9 for the Adelaide Strikers, crashing 68 fours and a tournament-high 29 sixes. While winning a game single-handedly is nothing but a cakewalk for Devine, Jones believes the team who seizes the little moments more throughout the World Cup will be the one going home with the title in Melbourne on March 8.

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“It’ll be the little things,” Jones said. “Yes, you’ve got big X-factor players like an Ash Gardner coming in and just bombing sixes left, right and centre and that might get you over the line but it might be a four-ball spell somewhere in the middle that changes the game,” added the cricketer-turned-commentator.

“Fielding, as always, is critical – if you don’t bring your A-game there you won’t get through. I think you can look back over it and say the little moments in games right throughout where someone in the team put their hand up and won it and collectively that will get them over the line.”

Fastest women’s T20I centuries

Deandra Dottin (West Indies), 38 balls vs South Africa in St Kitts, 2010

Alyssa Healy (Australia), 46 balls vs Sri Lanka at North Sydney Oval, 2019

Tammy Beaumont (England), 47 balls vs South Africa at Taunton, 2018

Harmanpreet Kaur (India), 49 balls vs New Zealand in Guyana, 2018

Meg Lanning (Australia), 51 balls vs England at Chelmsford, 2019