By his own admission, Devon Conway was struggling in South Africa before a bold move to New Zealand turned around his cricketing fortunes in spectacular fashion. Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images
SA-born Conway to miss T20 final due to bizarre injury
Johannesburg-born New Zealand batsman Devon Conway will miss the T20 World Cup final after punching his bat.
By his own admission, Devon Conway was struggling in South Africa before a bold move to New Zealand turned around his cricketing fortunes in spectacular fashion. Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images
Conway has been ruled out of Sunday’s title decider in Dubai after breaking his right hand when he punched his bat in frustration after he was dismissed in the semi-final win over England.
READ | NEW ZEALAND BEAT ENGLAND IN THRILLER TO REACH T20 WORLD CUP FINAL – RESULT
Besides missing the clash against Australia, Conway will also miss the forthcoming tour of India.
“It looked a pretty innocuous reactionary incident on the field,” said New Zealand coach Gary Stead.
“But the blow obviously caught the bat between the glove padding and while it’s not the smartest thing he’s done there’s certainly an element of bad luck in the injury.
“He’s absolutely gutted to be ruled out like this at this time.”
READ | T20 WORLD CUP SEVEN TALKING POINTS FROM SEVENTH EDITION
Stead also confirmed that a replacement wouldn’t be called up for Conway, who has scored 129 runs at an average of 32 at the tournament.
“Devon is a great team-man and a very popular member of the side so we’re all feeling for him.
“He’s determined to support the team in anyway he can for the remainder of the tour before he returns home to recover.
“Due to the timelines we won’t be bringing in a replacement player for this World Cup or next week’s T20 series against India, but are working through our options for the Test series later this month.”
