Conway, Allen fire NZ to 200/3 against Australia

PTI, Oct 22, 2022, 2:54 PM IST

Devon Conway (Credit: Twitter / @ICC)

Sydney: Devon Conway kicked off the T20 World Cup Super 12 stage in style, smashing an unbeaten 92 as New Zealand posted a stiff 200 for three against defending champions Australia here on Saturday.

The 31-year-old left-hander played some sublime shots as he held New Zealand’s innings together in a 58-ball knock, which was studded with seven fours and two sixes.

The wicketkeeper-batter never went hard but his runs came at a good rate, and he completed his fifty in 36 balls with a six off Adam Zampa in the 13th over.

In the process, he became the second fastest player in T20I history after Dawid Malan to score 1,000 runs.

However, he failed to complete his maiden century in the format with Jimmy Neesham (26 not out; 13 balls) taking most of the strike at the death to push the total to 200 with a six off the final ball by Josh Hazlewood.

Conway’s opening partner Finn Allen fired the opening salvo first, as he blasted his way to a 16-ball 42, hitting three sixes and five fours inside the powerplay to give the Kiwis the perfect start after Aaron Finch opted to field.

The 23-year-old Allen showed why he’s labelled as the future T20 star as he took the fiery Mitchell Starc head-on with two fours and one six, including a clean powerful thump over the mid-on boundary in the first over itself.

He continued his fury against Pat Cummins, too, as the Aussie veteran fed him with short-pitched stuff, but Allen happily swivelled him for a six in an over that yielded 17 runs.

The seasoned Conway was content playing the second fiddle with Allen hitting all around the park as they raced to 56 for no loss inside four overs.

Hazlewood finally gave a breakthrough to the hosts as he yorked Allen in the fifth over to bring an end to his innings, which came at an astonishing strike rate of 262.5.