Devine expresses frustration with scheduling after another washout

Sophie Devine, the New Zealand skipper, expressed frustration at the scheduling of the ongoing World Cup matches after New Zealand's match against Pakistan was washed out due to rain on Saturday. Only 25 overs of play was possible in Colombo before rain ensured no further action took place.

New Zealand had their noses ahead in the contest against Pakistan after putting them in to bat and reducing them to 92 for 5. However, for the second time in the ongoing tournament, rain ensured no result in the contest for New Zealand, who now have only four points from five games - finding themselves in a tricky position in the race to the semifinal spot.

It's the sixth time in 10 games that rain has impacted matches in Colombo in the ongoing World Cup. Four of them have been washed out with no result possible.

"You must feel we were in a decent position today, you just needed the rain to hold off, and unfortunately, it didn't happen today," Devine said in the post match presentation. "It's extremely frustrating. You wait four years for a World Cup, and to have rain play such a massive part in it, it is disappointing.

"Hopefully, in future editions, they might consider starting games earlier in the day. We've obviously seen here that the rain usually comes in the afternoon, so there's a real opportunity to play these matches at 10 or 11 AM and actually get a game in. All the teams want to play cricket. You've waited so long to be here, you want to test yourself against the best, and to be scuppered by rain is a real shame for me."

New Zealand aren't the only team to have suffered this fate. Sri Lanka and Pakistan too have had two of their games washed out. In fact, for Sri Lanka only one out of their five games has not been impacted by rain so far in the ongoing competition. If India beat England on Sunday, both the teams stand to get knocked out.

England and Australia have also had one game each getting abandoned.

The abandoned game on Saturday has ensured that South Africa have sealed their semis berth, becoming the second team to do so - after Australia - in the ongoing competition. If England win on Sunday, they will become the third team to qualify for the semis, leaving New Zealand to battle it out with India and Bangladesh for the fourth spot.

"We really wanted to play today," Devine said. "We were up and about for this match, and we just wanted to be out there playing cricket. But now, the situation is extremely clear, we just need to win both games, starting with India in Mumbai."

"It's a big challenge, but we're really excited about it. I know the girls don't need any extra motivation to take them on. We'll head back to India tomorrow and look forward to those challenges. We were so focused on these games here in Colombo, we wanted to give them our full focus.

"Luckily, we've got a few days now before the next game against India, so we'll prepare really well. We've had some good experiences against them recently, including in the World Cup last year, and we'll draw on those. But we also know they're huge favourites, playing at home, in conditions that suit them, with threats throughout the lineup. But again, this is what you want, to play against the best teams in their own backyard and put yourself under pressure. We're really looking forward to that challenge."

Following their game against India on October 23 in Navi Mumbai, New Zealand will fly to Visakhapatnam for their last league stage encounter against England, set to be played on October 26.