South African-born Devon Conway smashed an impossibly brilliant 99* to drive New Zealand to a 53-run victory over Australia.
Conway, who has been among the leading run-scorers across all formats of New Zealand’s domestic cricket over the last three seasons, came to the crease at 11-2, a predicament that later worsened to 19-3.
However, he excelled in the face of immense pressure, scoring his runs off 59 deliveries, and hitting 10 fours and three sixes.
Conway’s excellent form in T20I cricket continues unabated. Coming into this match, he had scored 174 runs at an average of 58 and a strike rate of 151 in T20Is .
Conway shared important partnerships with Glenn Philipps (30 off 20) and James Neesham (26 off 15) that took the Black Caps to a highly competitive 184-5.
The hosts then came out of the gates firing with the ball, reducing Australia to 19-4 in quick time, Tim Southee and Trent Boult taking two wickets apiece.
Mitchell Marsh stood firm, but neither the X-factor-laden Glenn Maxwell nor Marcus Stoinis were able to stick with him. And when Mitchell Santner took a blinder to dismiss Marsh at backward point, things quickly fell apart for Australia.
