We must not rely on Devine, Bates only, insists Green

New Zealand hard-hitting batter Maddy Green has echoed teammate Katey Martin and has insisted the others to take more responsibility, and not put too much pressure on skipper Sophie Devine and Suzie Bates to score bulk of the runs in the ICC Women's T20 World Cup starting February 21.

New Zealand certainly packs a punch when it comes to batting. Off-late Devine has been in a purple patch scoring a whopping 297 runs in four games including her maiden T20I ton in the series against South Africa earlier this month. However, Devine was dismissed for a duck against England in their first warm-up  game.     

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“The whole team needs to contribute and I guess that’s the challenge for us. We’ve got some big hitters in Sophie (Devine) and Suzie (Bates) but we need our whole squad performing well," said Green. Martin's 57 eventfully was enough for New Zealand to secure a four-wicket against England.

“T20 cricket can be a little bit fickle sometimes with one great performance being able to change a game, but I don’t think you can rely on just one or two people to constantly step up," added the 267-year-old. “Take Australia in the tri-series for example, Ashleigh Gardner got a 93 and Beth Mooney was ruthless too. The rest of us are just as important in driving our success."

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Earlier, New Zealand have reached finals twice (2009 & 2010) but are yet to get hands on the winners' trophy. In the last edition, they exited in the group stage. Green believes this time New Zealand have a good chance to challenge the other teams.

“Sophie often talks about being ruthless on the park – that’s the mentality she wants us to play with,” Green added. “Our girls have been putting in some good performances lately but you’re only as good as your last, so we need to make sure we hit the ground running now. "