The first match of the Super 12 stage in the 20-20 World Cup turned out to be an action-packed affair as New Zealand stamped their authority over Australia. After being put into bat first by Australian captain Aaron Finch, New Zealand posted a massive score of 200/3 in their allotted 20 overs.
Devon Conway emerged as the highest scorer from New Zealand with his magnificent knock of 92 off 58 balls. The kiwi batter also surpassed Virat Kohli during his innings and joined Babar Azam in an elite list.
Conway took 36 balls to score his maiden half-century in the 20-20 World Cup and added 12 more runs to his tally to reach the milestone of 1000 runs in his T20I career. It happened in the 14th over of New Zealand’s innings as he stole three runs against Pat Cummins after hitting the length ball for a lofted extra cover drive.
Conway reached the milestone in what was his 26th innings in international cricket and became the joint second-fastest to 1000 runs in T20 internationals. He went past former India captain Kohli, who had taken 27 innings to complete the milestone, and equaled Pakistan skipper Babar on the unique list.
England batter Dawid Malan and Afghanistan’s Sabawoon Davizi are the fastest ever to the milestone, having achieved the feat in 24 innings. Coming back to the match, New Zealand’s total of 200 proved to be too much for the hosts and defending Champions Australia as they got skittled for just 111. New Zealand registered their first win in Australia across formats since 2011 as they beat the Aussies by a massive margin of 89 runs.
Kiwi bowlers Tim Southee and Mitchell Santner were the chief destroyers of the star-studded Australian batting. While Southee picked up prized scalps of David Warner and Mitchell Marsh, Santner got rid of Aaron Finch, Marcus Stoinis and Tim David. Southee finished the match with outstanding figures of 3/6 in 2.1 overs. Santner ended with figures of 3/31 in four overs.
Conway was awarded ‘Player of the Match’ for his stupendous knock.
