Hand injury decides Devon Conway from T20 World Cup Finals and India Tour
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) - New Zealand batsman Devon Conway was ruled out for Sunday's T20 World Cup final against Australia with a broken right hand. New Zealand Cricket said Conway sustained the injury when he hit his bat immediately after being sent off in the semi-final match against England, which the Black Caps won with five wickets.
New Zealand face Australia in the final after Aaron Finch's team beat Pakistan with five wickets in Dubai on Thursday. Conway will also be banned from New Zealand's tour of India next week, during which they will play three T20s and two test matches. Coach Gary Stead said Conway was "absolutely gutted" about saying goodbye to the T20 World Cup.
"It looked like a fairly harmless reactionary incident on the field, but the blow obviously got the racket between the glove padding and while it's not the smartest thing it has done, the injury is certainly an element of bad luck," said Stead in a statement. "Devon is a great team man and a very popular member of the team so we all sympathize with him."
Stead said New Zealand will not use a replacement for Conway for Sunday's final and the T20 series against India starting Wednesday, but will "work through our options for the test series later this month."
"Devon is a great team man and a very popular member of the squad so we all sympathize with him. Due to the schedules we won't be using a substitute for this World Cup or next week's T20 series against India." , but will work through our options for the test series later this month. "
Conway scored a decisive 46 of 38 balls in 4th place in New Zealand's tense chase of 167 balls before being stunned by Liam Livingstone's bowling. He also took on the gloves in the middle of the tournament when New Zealand decided to bring the fast bowler Adam Milne into the XI, as Conway, until then a specialist in batter in the XI, took over the duties of Tim Siefert. New Zealand had selected the same squad of 15 for the World Cup and the three T20Is in India, which start on November 17th, just three days after the final.
Conway, with a three-Test experience who had a double hundred in his name when he debuted at Lord's, was also in the roster of 15 for the two India Tests that will follow the T20I series. He was the second option to stay in the squad after Tom Blundell.