Conway misses century but helps NZ take 1-0 lead against AUS

A trembled start for NZ while a flying one for AUS was the story of first 15 minutes into the game. After which Devon Conway stood up to take NZ to a fighting total. Complimented with a brilliant bowling effort in the 2^nd innings, New Zealand defeated Australia by 53 runs taking a 1-0 lead in the 5-match series.

Brief Scores:

New Zealand : 184/5 (20 ov). Conway 99(59)*, Phillips 30(20), Jhye Richardson 2/31, Daniel Sams 2/40.

Australia : 131/10 (17.3 ov). Mitchell Marsh 45(33), Ashton Agar 23(13), Ish Sodhi 4/28, Tim Southee 2/10.

Man of The Match: Devon Conway

Conway Fires At The Right Time

Winning the toss, Australia invited New Zealand to bat first. Sams drew initial blood in the third ball of the match itself removing Guptill for a duck. The opening spell was a nightmare for NZ as they were 19/3 in no time. Williamson 12(13) negotiated 13 deliveries but Sams got the better of him. From that point, it was ‘The Conway Show’. He started of steadily finding boundaries at regular intervals. His partnership with Phillips 30(20) tidied the mess created by the top order. Neesham at the end played an impactful cameo scoring 26 of just 15 balls. Sams and Jhye got 2 wickets each but were not economical. Sadly, Conway 99(59)* couldn’t complete his century but now he has finished not out in 4 successive T20Is which is a feat in itself. NZ ended at 184/5 (20 Overs) which is more that acceptable after a disastrous start.

Australia Go Through a Similar Start, But Never Recover

The momentum was towards NZ after the 1^st innings. A good start was the need of the hour for Australia. But, as their counterparts, they too got off for a disastrous start. Southee and Boult ran through the top order and brought AUS to 19/4 in just 4.2 overs. Captain Finch didn’t have a good time scoring just a run in two balls. Josh Philippe had a debut to forget. Mitchell Marsh steadied things up with a 45(33) but the question was will he pull of a ‘Conway’? Well, Jamieson ended his innings and the hopes of a win for Australia.

The Big Buy of IPL Glenn Maxwell 1(5) might have disappointed RCB fans as he failed to contribute much. Ashton Agar 23(13) made some quick runs but needed much more to get close to the total. Ish Sodhi cleaned up the middle order and the tail picking up 4 wickets. Southee and Boult ended with 2 wickets to their tally while Santner got 1. Australia were bundled out for 131 with 2.3 overs to spare resulting a 53 run win for New Zealand.

Australia will now have to get themselves together after this demotivating loss and also expect their top order to contribute more. New Zealand also have a lot of homework to do but being ahead in the series 1-0 will help them for their next match.

Read Also : India squad for T20I series against England