New Zealand will go into the final of the ICC T20 World Cup without the services of Devon Conway after the wicket-keeper batsman broke his right hand immediately following his reaction to being dismissed in the semifinal match.
Conway had scored 46 runs off 38 balls in New Zealand’s brilliant chase and reacted to his dismissal by punching his hand with the bat.
After a day off, the Blackcaps trained on Friday at the ICC Academy and Conway was seen helping out substitute keeper Tim Seifert with his drills.
Captain Kane Williamson and coach Gary Stead decided not to ask for a replacement for Conway, which would certainly make Seifert a starter on Sunday.
Later, Australia trained on Saturday as they prepare for the T20 World Cup finals at Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday.
Captain Aaron Finch will be mindful of the advantage of winning the toss as so far every team that has batted second under lights in Dubai has won, with Australia the latest to reap the benefit of choosing to do so after recovering from 96 for five to chase down 177 and beat tournament favourites Pakistan.
Matthew Wade got Australia into Sunday’s final against New Zealand with 41 not out from 17 balls following three successive sixes off Pakistan’s talismanic left-arm quick Shaheen Shah Afridi in an improbable five-wicket win.
Head To Head:
Australia firmly dominates New Zealand as far as the head-to-head record in T20Is is concerned. These two sides have met in 14 T20Is before out of which, 9 games landed in Australia’s favour while the Kiwis have won five games. As far as World Cup clashes are concerned, the head-to-head record stands 1-0 in New Zealand’s favour.
Important Stats:
- Aaron Finch needs 25 runs to become the second Australian and sixth player overall to complete 10,000 T20 runs.
- Glenn Maxwell needs seven hits over the fence to become the second Australian after Aaron Finch to complete 100 sixes in T20Is.
- David Warner can also complete 100 T20I sixes. He’s four big hits away from the milestone.
- Tim Seifert needs 30 runs to complete 2,500 runs in T20 cricket.
- Mitchell Santner can complete 50 sixes in T20 cricket. He needs one hit over the fence to get the milestone.
- Ashton Agar needs 31 runs to complete 1000 runs in T20 cricket.
- David Warner needs just one grab for completing 150 catches in T20 cricket.
- Glenn Phillips has scored 1376 T20 runs this year, third-most by any player in 2021.
- Martin Guptill (23) needs one six to become the New Zealand player with the most sixes in T20 World Cups. He currently shares the record with Ross Taylor.
- Guptill also needs 49 runs to go past Brendon McCullum’s tally of 637 runs and become New Zealand’s leading run-scorer in T20 World Cups.
