New Zealand vs Australia: Devon Conway smashes 99 off 59 balls, Ravi Ashwin says he is ‘just’ 4 days late


New Zealand vs Australia: Devon Conway smashes 99 off 59 balls, Ravi Ashwin says he is ‘just’ 4 days late
Devon Conway in action against Australia in the 1st T20I

Seasoned India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin once again showed his humorous side on Monday after New Zealand’s Devon Conway played a sensational knock against Australia in the first T20I at the Hagley Oval. New Zealand was reduced to 19/3 before Conway unleashed the beast within himself to hammer an unbeaten 99 off 59 balls and guided the hosts to 184/5.

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The 29-year-old went unsold in the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction last week even though he had set the base price at INR 50 lakhs and Ashwin was quick to point out the funny side after the batsman played a quality knock. “Devon Conway is just 4 days late, but what a knock,” Ashwin tweeted.

Devon Conway’s career has got off to a flier

The respective skippers of Australia and New Zealand

Devon Conway has been in scintillating touch for quite some time and has a batting average of 91 in his T20I career so far, having played seven matches so far. The South African-born had moved to New Zealand in 2017 and became eligible to play for them in August last year. In the course of his knock on Monday, Conway reached some rare landmarks: Conway has joined India’s Virender Sehwag, Zimbabwe’s Hamilton Masakadza, Pakistan’s Kamran Akmal, England’s Jos Buttler and Australia’s David Warner as the only men to score five straight 50s in T20 matches, domestic or international.

Conway is also the first NZ male cricketer to hit 5 consecutive T20 fifty-plus scores. Sophie Devine had done so already in women’s cricket. Conway also became the fourth cricketer to remain not out on 99 in T20Is. Luke Wright (v Afg, Colombo 2012), Dawid Malan (v SA, Cape Town 2020), Mohd Hafeez (v NZ, Hamilton 2020) were the other instances.

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