No illusions that India are favourites but we will look to control what we can: Sophie Devine

Navi Mumbai, Oct 22 (PTI) New Zealand captain Sophie Devine on Wednesday said her side is under no illusions that India are favourites despite the unimaginable pressure on them for their virtual quarterfinal of the Women's World Cup here, adding that they will look to control what they can.

India and New Zealand's clash here on Thursday will be vital as a win for the hosts would give them the fourth place ahead of the semifinals.

On their part, New Zealand need to win both their remaining matches to make the final four.

"In all honesty, I can't begin to imagine the type of pressure that the Indian team is under. I know when we played at a home World Cup, the pressure that we felt to perform in front of our home crowd, in front of our own country, was at times overwhelming," Devine told the media on the eve of the game.

"I can't imagine what that's like with a billion people tuned into the TV screens and the expectation and the weight that's on their shoulders. I've got real empathy for them having to try and deal with that while also go out and perform." "We're obviously under no illusions that India are still the favourites, without a doubt, and we'll wear that underdog badge with pride, as Kiwis often do," she added.

The venerable Devine said New Zealand would look to cut out the noise and distraction, including prediction of rain, in order to challenge India.

"We know the pressure that India are under at home, but we're just going to go out there and, again, control what we can control and make sure we stick to what we do well as a Kiwi side. This is pretty much a quarterfinal and we're really stepping towards that pressure," she said.

"I haven't seen too many rain clouds but it rained last night when India turned up to train. It's one of those things you can't control. We've needed to move on. We've done that as a team and we know exactly where our path leads us and what we have to do to achieve that," Devine added.

Devine said as the most senior members of the New Zealand team, she and Suzie Bates would continue to lean on to each other.

"We take great pride in making sure that we're good enough to make sure that we're capable of being able to perform and that's always something we've said, is (that) we need to be leading with our performances and our actions," Devine said.

"So we're certainly going to lean on each other a lot. We're going to have to, knowing that it's probably going to be about 99.9 per cent people supporting India here tomorrow, and there's going to be a sea of blue," she added.

With DY Patil Stadium set to host only its second women's ODI after the Sri Lanka versus Bangladesh clash here, Devine said she expects it to be a high-scoring contest.

"Thank goodness for the internet and the ability to be able to scout different games. Obviously, we played WPL here a couple of years ago now, and there's been different competitions and different games have been played here," she said.

"It looks like it's going to be a great batting wicket. The outfield is like (a) carpet, so I'm expecting that to be lightning quick. I think it's going to be a high-scoring venue for us." "I've just heard that it's maybe sold out, hopefully. It's going to be a really good atmosphere here," she added. PTI DDV DDV AH AH