All posts by n8rngtd.top

An aggressive half-century from Babar Hayat set Hong Kong up for a 39-run Duckworth-Lewis win in a rain-affected match against Kenya in Nairobi

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Nov-2016
ScorecardBabar Hayat hit six fours and four sixes in his 68-ball 78•AFP

An aggressive half-century from Babar Hayat set Hong Kong up for a 39-run Duckworth-Lewis win in a rain-affected match against Kenya in Nairobi. The win moved Hong Kong up to 11 points from eight games, leaving them a point adrift of joint table-toppers Papua New Guinea and Netherlands.Rain delayed the start of play and forced the match to be reduced to 31 overs a side. Sent in to bat, Hong Kong lost Kinchit Shah with only two runs on the board, before Hayat joined the opener Christopher Carter in a 119-run second-wicket partnership. Both then fell in the space of eight balls, to the left-arm seamer Lucas Oluoch: Hayat for 78 off 68 balls (6×4, 4×6) and Carter for 41 off 63 (4×4, 1×6). Hong Kong lost Anshuman Rath soon after as well, and were 148 for 4 in 25.1 overs when rain came down again.That interruption caused the match to be shortened further, with Kenya set a revised target of 173 in 25 overs. They made an excellent start, courtesy a 79-run opening stand between Irfan Karim and Alex Obanda, but fell away thereafter, losing all ten wickets for the addition of only 54 runs. Left-arm spinner Nadeem Ahmed, offspinner Ehsan Khan and medium-pacer Tanveer Ahmed picked up three wickets each.

NZC are fully supportive of his trip home after the aborted IPL and the left-armer will be available for the WTC final

ESPNcricinfo staff06-May-2021Trent Boult will return to New Zealand after the aborted IPL instead of heading straight to England with the other Test players and could miss the two-match series although will still be available for the World Test Championship final against India.Boult, along with New Zealand trainer Chris Donaldson, who has been with the Kolkata Knight Riders, will spend about a week with their families after undergoing the mandatory two weeks in managed isolation on their return before joining the Test squad in England.An NZC statement said that Boult would be back with the squad “possibly in time to be picked for the second Test against England but certainly in time for the ICC WTC final.”Had the IPL run its full course, Boult would likely have been unavailable for the first Test at Lord’s which starts on June 2 and it may have been tight for the second Test due to quarantine requirements.Related

• Neil Wagner: England Tests are not warm-ups for WTC final

• Majority of New Zealand Test contingent arrives in UK

• Stead: 'New Zealand players may leave for UK from Maldives over the weekend'

• IPL 2021: Australians head to Maldives, New Zealand and Bangladesh on chartered flights on May 6

• Can New Zealand's perfect summer be a precursor to silverware?

“We’re completely supportive of Chris and Trent taking the opportunity to see their families before heading to the UK,” David White, the NZC chief executive, said. “They’ve always been the consummate professionals and we’re more than happy to accommodate these arrangements.”Boult and Donaldson are due to depart New Delhi on Friday on one of two charter flights along with the other New Zealand-based players, support staff and commentators who are returning on home.They are due back in Auckland on Saturday which means that their managed isolation should be complete by May 22. The plan for Boult is that he will then spend his week at home alongside training at Mount Maunganui before leaving for England in early June.Kane Williamson, Kyle Jamieson and Mitchell Santner, along with physio Tommy Simsek, will travel to England on May 11.”We’ve worked closely with the BCCI and the IPL franchises on the various departure strategies and we’re very appreciative of their support during what is, clearly, a very challenging time,” White said. “Were also very grateful to the England and Wales Cricket Board for accommodating the early arrival of the four members of the Test squad currently in India.”The New Zealand-based members of the Test squad, who have just had the first of two training camps in Christchurch, will depart for England on May 16 and 17.

Eoin Morgan says that England’s inexperience in India could be an advantage as they arrive for the World T20 with no preconceptions.

Andrew Miller09-Mar-2016A year ago to the day, during the 2015 World Cup in Adelaide, Eoin Morgan experienced what must surely rank as one of the lowest ebbs in the often moribund history of England cricket captaincy.Defeat to Bangladesh – and a duck to boot, Morgan’s fourth in nine innings since taking over from Alastair Cook at the start of that year – condemned England to a first-round exit from a tournament specifically designed to protect the big boys from such an ignominious fate.It was, Morgan admitted, as his side touched down in Mumbai at the start of their latest global campaign, an experience that would live with him for the rest of his career. And yet, all the signs of the past 12 months seem to indicate that England, finally, have learned the lessons that their countless short-form shortcomings have been screaming out to them for a generation. Whether they have learned them quickly enough to challenge at the World T20 in India, however, is a moot point.”I think it will always be there,” Morgan recalled. “That World Cup in particular, not necessarily that day, but the whole trip was a huge learning curve for me. Particularly as a captain going through such a significant loss and such a down period in your career does make you enjoy any sort of success down the line. I think that’s been quite significant in the turnaround that we’ve had, the different attitude, the different group of players and, to a certain extent, the results that we have had.”The upsurge in England’s attitude since the World Cup has been startling to behold, even if their results don’t quite tally with the intent that they have shown in the past 12 months. A flaccid finish to their recent tour of South Africa – where a 2-0 lead in the ODI series turned into a 3-2 loss, swiftly followed by a humbling finale in the two-match T20I series – undermined many of the gains made in the second half of 2015, not least a rousing limited-overs leg of their tour of the UAE in November.Nevertheless, a steadfast commitment to youth, best exemplified by the explosive Jos Buttler and the unflappable Joe Root, has enabled Morgan to settle into an elder statesman role and build a team that might well be capable of great feats in the future. For now, however, he is happy for his young squad to fly under the radar, and embrace the learning curve that is about to get very steep very quickly.”We are reasonably confident,” Morgan said of his team’s chances. “We have a lot of talent and a lot of match-winners, but one of the things we talked about after the [South Africa] trip was ‘are we playing in the right way?’ and ‘are we being beaten in the right manner, doing the things we said we would do?’ and we are. The attitude within the group is still a really positive mindset, and that’s very important for us coming into this major tournament.”A gung-ho attitude is all well and good, but at some stage in this campaign – maybe as soon as next Wednesday, when they face a dangerous West Indies team in their opening match in Mumbai – England may well rue the lack of situational experience that most of the other big teams will be able to bring to bear at the crunch moments.Morgan, with a grand total of eight international appearances in India, is the most experienced player in the England squad, and the only one so far to have sampled the hothouse environment of IPL cricket. Ten of their 15 players have never so much as set foot in India for a senior tour. But far from seeing it as an impediment, Morgan has challenged his players to embrace their naivety and turn it to their advantage.”I think it just becomes a different challenge,” he said. “Not only have our guys not played the IPL, a lot of our guys have never been to India. But we have guys who have toured Sri Lanka quite a lot, been on a recent tour to Dubai and Abu Dhabi where we had a little bit of success.”And I think sometimes, having experience, particularly in India – because a lot of sides come here, including Australia, and get hammered – can almost scar your perception and [style of] playing within the tournament. Having a little bit of naivety with a huge amount of talent isn’t a bad thing.”That’s not to say, however, that England wouldn’t crave a bit more experience if it was available, and the loss of Steven Finn to a calf strain last week was a particularly grievous blow. His extra pace and aggression has provided a cutting edge on previous one-day tours of India, not least in 2011, when he was a lone shining light in a 5-0 defeat, but Morgan was confident that the recalled Liam Plunkett would prove a worthy replacement.”Losing any fast bowler before a major tournament is a blow,” said Morgan. “I think the benefit we have in that is Liam was fit off the back of it. They seemed to be on rotation at the moment – him and Steven, which is quite a weird thing. At the back we have other guys who are out as well – Mark Wood is coming back from injury, so similar instance – but the fact that we have one fit fast bowler is a really good sign for us.”England’s opening warm-up match takes place against New Zealand at the Wankhede on Saturday, and Morgan backed his team to launch their preparations as they mean to continue.”It’s the most expressive we’ve been in a long time,” he said. “We have a lot of talent within the side, we encourage our players to go out and be as brash and aggressive as they can, and take the game to the opposition.”

Fast bowler says India’s Test success is the “result of the work we’ve put in over the last 6-7 years”

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Dec-20211:13

Mohammed Shami: Credit should be given to India’s quicks for their rise

Mohammed Shami has credited his father and his brother for the success he has enjoyed as a Test cricketer. Shami hails from Sahaspur Ali Nagar, a village in the Amroha district of Uttar Pradesh, and it was the encouragement of his family, he says, that made it possible for him to begin his journey from that remote cricketing outpost and eventually become only the fifth Indian fast bowler to pick up 200 Test wickets.He achieved the feat on day three of the Centurion Test, getting there with his fifth wicket of South Africa’s first innings, Kagiso Rabada caught behind by Rishabh Pant. Shami’s 5 for 44 helped India secure a first-innings lead of 130.Related

• India secure big lead on day of 18 wickets

• Classical Shami completes his evolution into champion bowler

“I’ve said many times in the media that I want to credit my father,” Shami said in his post-match press conference. “I come from a village where there are no facilities even today. My father would force me to travel 30km from there, and sometimes accompany me, and that struggle has always stayed with me, and I always credit my father and brother who backed me and helped me play the game in those conditions and that situation. If I’m here today, the credit goes to them.”Shami is a key component of a fast-bowling unit that has transformed India into a team that routinely wins Test matches all over the world. Asked who deserves the credit for creating that group, Shami said it was important to recognise the work put in by the bowlers themselves.”If India’s pace bowling is so strong, it’s come on the backs of our own skills, we’ve all come here having built our strengths,” he said. “You can say that it’s the result of the hard work we’ve put in over the last 6-7 years.”Yes, we’ve had support staff who’ve always been with us, to support our skills, but you can’t name one person. It’s the result of the work we’ve put in over the last 6-7 years, so I give credit to that hard work, and the credit should always go to the person who’s put in that hard work.”Shami’s performance on Tuesday was particularly noteworthy since it led an Indian bowling effort that missed its spearhead for a significant part of the day, with Jasprit Bumrah going off the field with a twisted ankle midway through his first spell.”It’s not a [serious] injury, he came back and bowled, but obviously, when your unit is short of one bowler, you always have extra pressure, especially in Test matches where you have to bowl long spells,” Shami said. “It tends to be in the back of your mind, but we had five bowlers and we could make up. We managed it well as a unit, and there wasn’t so much pressure.”Bumrah eventually returned to the field and picked up the final wicket of South Africa’s innings.”Everything is fine [with Bumrah]. As you saw, he came back and bowled and took the last wicket too,” Shami said. “It’s always painful when you twist your ankle, and you always hope it heals quickly, but he came back and even fielded for one hour, so I think he will be fine, there are no issues.”

Opener Aaron Finch, who smashed an 18-ball half-century to set Australia on the path to a series win, identified that going hard in the mandatory Powerplay was the key to victory

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Sep-2016Opener Aaron Finch, who smashed 55 off 19 balls to set Australia on the path to a series win, identified that going hard in the mandatory Powerplay was the key to victory. Chasing 213, Australia sprinted to 35 for 0 in three overs, with Finch having scored all 35 runs. David Warner then found his groove with successive fours off left-arm spinner Amila Aponso as the visitors went on to slice 109 runs off the target in the first ten overs.”In a small chase like that you tend to break the back of the chase as quick as you can,” Finch said. “As it worked out, we got off to a flyer and that was nice. There is no pre-planning that I am going to go and tee off. We want to cash in and capitalise on the first ten as much as we can. That’s always spoken about between myself and Davey and the guys coming in. It was about being aggressive in the first ten overs.”Finch made a mockery of Sri Lanka’s attack and ran up an 18-ball half-century, equalling the Australian record shared by Simon O’Donnell and Glenn Maxwell. Did Finch know that he was within touching distance of the record?”No, I actually had no idea. I think three Victorians have all got it now,” Finch said. “I was disappointed not to beat Maxi, to be fair, I would have liked to have beaten Maxi. But Simon O’Donnell, he was a revolutionary of the game, wasn’t he? He was someone who played the game in a sort of modern-day way. I had absolutely no idea what the record was until you see it come up on the screen later on.”Finch also criticised the quality of pitches in the series, something he had done during the ODI series opener at the Khettarama as well. Several balls raised puffs of dust on a deteriorating surface that was used for the third ODI too in Dambulla.”Tough, tough conditions out there,” he said. “We haven’t been treated to good wickets in the one-day series especially… it can be quite frustrating as a batter when you look over and there is a beautiful batting wicket two strips over and it could have been a really entertaining game from a high-scoring point of view. But they used the same one, which was… well, home conditions and they are entitled to do that. It is nice to win when there are a lot of things working against you.”

Chris Morris hammered 82 not out off a mere 32 balls – the third fastest fifty in IPL – but he and Delh Daredevils fell short by one run

The Report by Alagappan Muthu27-Apr-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsChris Morris struck the third-fastest IPL fifty•BCCI

It was IPL in a nutshell. A big name – Brendon McCullum – bossed the start, so much that Gujarat Lions recorded the fastest hundred of the season. A helpless collapse then killed the prospect of a one-sided game and Delhi Daredevils would have fancied chasing 173 with dew gathering at Feroz Shah Kotla. However, they slipped to 16 for 3 and the home fans despaired. The game, though, wasn’t done playing with everyone’s emotions.Out walked the million-dollar man Chris Morris with 116 needed off 56, and walloped the third fastest fifty in the IPL, off 17 balls. When the match ended, he was unbeaten on 82 off 32, but there was no smile on his face. It was stolen by Praveen Kumar and Dwayne Bravo, who gave away only 16 off the final two overs to pull off a one-run win for Lions.Morris had come in at No. 6 and launched his second ball into the second tier of the stands behind long-off. Very few of his eight sixes and four fours were mistimed, but a lot of them came as a result of his being able to get under the ball. Praveen prevented that in the penultimate over of the chase, conceding only four to leave Daredevils needing 14 off six balls. Bravo, bowling from around the stumps, then hit the blockhole repeatedly to deny Morris’ sublime innings the status of match-winning.Suresh Raina gave his frontline spinners – Ravindra Jadeja and Pravin Tambe – only one over each and they cost a combined 31 runs. Bowling with the wet ball, they stood very little chance against Morris, armed with a crowd that was bellowing his name. His reach was handy, his balance at the crease was pristine and his clarity of thought handling a required rate that was above 12 was downright chilling.Morris’ first two sixes dragged the equation down from 101 off 48 to 85 off 42. Two against Tambe in the 15th over brought it to 57 off 30. A hat-trick of them in the 17th over bowled by Dwayne Smith sealed his fifty and left Daredevils needing 29 off 18. But JP Duminy, who had begun Daredevils’ revival, was undone by a Bravo slower ball for 48 which provided just enough of an opening for Lions to sneak through.Their victory had almost seemed a formality when McCullum smashed Lions’ fastest fifty, and Smith usurped him a few minutes later. Along the way Lions had reached 100 for 0 in a mere nine overs.This batting line-up had beaten perhaps the best one in the IPL on Sunday, when a Virat Kohli century had not been enough. Daredevils were looking at a target of 220, as a best-case scenario. But Morris did what Royal Challengers Bangalore’s bowlers couldn’t; he had set plans and executed them very well. He dismissed McCullum and Raina in the 12th over; Lions were short-circuited and could only manage 55 runs in the remaining 48 balls.Morris knew McCullum thrived on fast bowling, so he produced an offcutter that dipped under the bat swing and broke the stumps. He targeted Raina’s body and had leg gully in place to take the catch. That gave the Daredevils spinners some freedom.Imran Tahir added to his reputation of being one of the best bowlers in T20 cricket with a spell of 3 for 24, the hallmark of which was his ability to vary the pace and time the googlies and flippers that surprised the batsmen. Where his slow-bowling partners Amit Mishra and Shahbaz Nadeem bowled flat in the hopes of containing the batsmen, Tahir backed his skill to confound them. He had Smith lbw with a ball that skidded through off the pitch and removed Ishan Kishan and Dinesh Karthik off successive balls in the 17th over.Much like Tahir, Dhawal Kulkarni relied on his strength – swing – to topple Sanju Samson, an in-form Quinton de Kock and Karun Nair to lift Lions in the chase but his 3 for 19 wouldn’t have mattered much until his new-ball partner Praveen bowled an excellent final over to strangle Morris and finish with 4-0-13-0.

Marathe to serve three-year term after delays to USA Cricket elections

Peter Della Penna09-Mar-2021Incumbent USA Cricket board chairman Paraag Marathe has retained his position as an independent director and will serve a second term in the role after being approved by the rest of the board of directors, according to a press release from the governing body.”I am honoured to continue my role as an independent director for USA Cricket and chair of the board as we continue to build on the significant, foundational progress made over the last two years in collaboration with my colleagues and the wider community,” Marathe said. “There is no doubt that the last 12 months have been a very challenging period, not just for USA Cricket, but the world as a whole.”I remain confident that the developments we have made off the field, where we have navigated the continued uncertainties of the Covid-19 landscape, will enable us to make great progress on the field in 2021 and deliver upon our key priorities. I am especially pleased to see the plans coming together for the staging of National Championships in each of the men’s and women’s senior and U19 categories for the first time ever, and being able to deliver a full calendar of cricketing activity across the board this year.”USA have not played any international cricket since returning from an ODI tri-series in Nepal in February 2020. They were due to host Scotland and UAE in April 2020 for an ODI tri-series in Florida but the series was postponed in one of the first set of fixtures to be affected during the Covid pandemic. ODI tours of Oman and PNG that were slated for March and May have also been postponed, forcing the cancelation of a training camp USA Cricket had organised ahead of the scheduled tours.Related

• Leadership vacuum at USA Cricket as chairman Paraag Marathe resigns

• Smit Patel quits BCCI system to 'carve out a second coming of sorts' in America

• Delayed elections – USA Cricket board members file lawsuit against other members, chief executive

• NFL executive Marathe named USA Cricket's chairman

• USA Cricket targets ICC Full Membership by 2030

However, USA Cricket recently announced Under-19 men’s national championships to be played in Texas from April 4-11 in a bid to get domestic programs back underway after lengthy inactivity during the pandemic.”The launch of the USA Cricket Foundational Plan in 2020 now provides us with a direction for everything that we are working on, and I am committed to playing my part in helping USA Cricket achieve its overarching vision of becoming a Full Member of the ICC by 2030 and establishing cricket as a mainstream sport here within the USA,” Marathe said.”We have some ambitious objectives, including pursuing the opportunity to host global events, seeking cricket’s inclusion in the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics and establishing a professional Twenty20 league played in world-class cricket venues across the country. But we are also conscious of the need to invest our time and resources into growing areas that have to some extent been neglected for many years, in particular around youth development and engaging women and girls in all aspects of the sport.”Marathe’s first term, which was due to last for two years, began in August 2018 following the conclusion of the inaugural USA Cricket elections. Marathe, along with Catherine Carlson and Rohan Sajdeh, were installed as unelected independent directors by the other seven members of the then newly elected USA Cricket board. USA Cricket’s constitution mandated that the first board chairman must be one of the three independent directors, with Marathe getting the nod to take on the chairman’s role.However, Marathe’s first term wound up lasting more than 30 months following delays in the subsequent election, which was due to take place in August 2019 but did not occur until February 2020. Unlike his first term, Marathe’s reappointment has taken place prior to the next round of board elections, which have also faced numerous delays. USA Cricket has yet to announce a definitive voting date.Marathe’s second term as board chairman is due to be a three-year term ending in 2024.

Batter’s 47th first-class hundred gives visitors the chance to set agenda

ECB Reporters Network11-Jul-2021Somerset 280 for 6 (Hildreth 107, Goldsworthy 48, Lammonby 42, Davies 42) vs SurreyA fascinating first day, on a pitch expected to take more spin as the game progresses, saw Somerset’s James Hildreth battle to 107 in a hard-fought 280 for 6 against Surrey at the Kia Oval.It was Hildreth’s 47th first-class hundred and he was well supported in a fourth wicket stand of 144 in 50 overs by Lewis Goldsworthy, whose gritty three-hour 48 occupied 145 balls.Hildreth, acting captain in the injury absence of Tom Abell, won an important toss before Somerset set out towards what they hope will be a match-defining first innings total in the final Group 2 fixture before qualification for the end-of-season divisional finale that will decide who wins this year’s LV= Insurance County Championship title.Somerset must at worst draw here to make sure of Division One status in August and September, while Surrey began the game 22 points behind group leaders Somerset and 17 points adrift of second-placed Gloucestershire (the top two qualify for Division One) and had only a mathematical chance of finishing second.Indian Test off spinner R Ashwin, signed for this game only as an overseas player replacement for injured New Zealand fast bowler Kyle Jamieson, bowled the first over of the match at the start of a five-over new-ball spell and finished with 1 for 70 from 28 overs.Surrey, indeed, fielded three frontline spinners with off spinner Amar Virdi and slow left-armer Dan Moriarty also sharing 37 overs, while Somerset have England’s Jack Leach in their ranks. But only the odd ball spun markedly on a sluggish surface as Hildreth’s determined partnership with Goldsworthy shaped the opening day.Related

• Tom Lace makes Hampshire earn their place as Gloucestershire fall at the last

• Nick Gubbins century puts Hampshire in control in must-win clash

• Joe Weatherley, Ian Holland dent Gloucestershire's first division hopes

• Ashwin could play a first-class match for Surrey before England Tests

• Kent forced to pick new squad for Sussex fixture following positive Covid test

Surrey, already below-strength due to England one-day calls and injuries to Ollie Pope and Ben Foakes, were further handicapped by an injury suffered in the field by former Somerset fast bowler Jamie Overton and a shoulder problem which limited all-rounder Rikki Clarke to just a spell with the second new ball.Jordan Clark, though, made an early breakthrough when he bowled Devon Conway for 21 – the New Zealand Test opener inside-edging an attempted drive – and Somerset were an unconvincing 113 for 3 20 minutes after lunch after Steven Davies, lbw to Virdi’s second ball, and Tom Lammonby, who shouldered arms to Ashwin’s arm ball and was bowled off stump, had both departed for well-made 42s. Lammonby did once smash a Virdi full toss for six but otherwise it was predominantly attritional cricket throughout.Hildreth, who hit 13 fours from 211 balls and cut and swept the spinners with excellent judgement, dug deep before an inswinger from the wholehearted Clark took out his off stump as he played no shot 10 minutes from the close.Goldsworthy and George Bartlett (2) had by then also gone to the second new ball, strangled down the legside by Clark and leg-before to Clarke respectively.

The ECB have contacted Durham’s creditors to try to negotiate a part writing-off of debts to put the county on a firmer financial footing

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Oct-2016The ECB have contacted Durham’s creditors to try to negotiate a part writing-off of debts to put the county on a firmer financial footing.The message to creditors is that, unless debts are further reduced, Durham’s involvement in events such as the 2019 World Cup cannot be guaranteed and their long-term viability remains uncertain.Durham have received a £3.8m bailout from the ECB. They have been relegated from Division One of the County Championship because of the need for emergency ECB support during the season and have been told that they will no longer be allowed to bid to host Test matches at Chester-le-Street.That, though, is only part of the approach. An ECB spokesman told the : “ECB has written to Durham County Council and the North East Local Enterprise Partnership asking them to support an all-creditors solution to enable Durham County Cricket Club to move towards a fully secure future.”The club’s acceptance of the ECB financial aid package is significant, but on its own does not give a long-term solution.
“For the club to have the best chance of a viable future in first class cricket – as well as host prestigious internationals and play a part in the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup – it needs an approach which has the support of all creditors.”We have outlined a proposal which we believe gives the cricket club a viable future whilst ensuring creditors have the best opportunity to get their money back.”Durham City Council and the North East Local Enterprise Partnership will now be invited to reduce the debt burde4n in a similar manner in which Glamorgan escaped potential bankruptcy last year when Cardiff Council wrote off £4.4m debts as part of a restructuring in which creditors waived 70% of loans.In Glamorgan’s case, politicians conceded that the survival of the club was vital to the Welsh economy and the sporting community and its bankruptcy could not be contemplated. The ECB hopes that the same conclusion will be reached in the north-east.With too many international grounds to go round, the loss of Chester-le-Street as an England venue could easily be masked. But the north-east has been a fertile production ground for England players, leaving the ECB and the public bodies with deloicate negotiations ahead.The ECB already supports each first-class county to roughly £2m a year and felt obliged to penalise Durham heavily so that the impression does not grow that they will happily be the lender of last resort to every county that is badly run or that has embraced necessary expansion to bring England’s cricket grounds into the 21st century.

The New Zealand batsman has now hit five consecutive 50-plus scores in T20 cricket

Andrew McGlashan22-Feb-2021Devon Conway is just trying to “ride the wave” of his spectacular T20 form after an innings in the series opener against Australia that those from both sides lauded as incredible.Conway finished unbeaten on 99 in Christchurch when he struck the final ball of the innings to deep cover and was unable to make it back for the second, having hit the previous two deliveries from Kane Richardson for six and four to bring the three-digit score within touching distance.He had already become the first New Zealand batsman to make five consecutive 50-plus scores in T20 cricket, having entered this series on the back of 50, 69*, 91* and 93* in the domestic Super Smash. He has now scored 352 T20 runs since last being dismissed and has three half-centuries in his first five T20I innings. That includes an impressive start to his T20I career, with promising knocks against Pakistan and West Indies earlier in the season.”You’ve just got to ride that wave as long as it lasts, but [I am] pretty happy; it’s a good start to the series and [we have] just got to keep the momentum going,” he said at the post-match presentation. “For me, the key to my batting is just playing strong shots and running hard between the wickets. [I’m] not looking too much into it and just enjoying the moment.”Naturally, [I am] a little disappointed [to miss the hundred] but good to get the win. Probably a little more disappointed for Ish [Sodhi] not getting his five-for but happy days. It’s pretty cool.”New Zealand captain Kane Williamson lauded Conway’s display which led a recovery from 19 for 3 after he had joined the fall of powerplay wickets against Daniel Sams and Jhye Richardson.”An incredible knock [it was],” he said. “It was obviously a really tough start for us with the bat and to see those partnerships through the middle order led by Devon with an unbelievable 99 on a surface that starting on wasn’t all that easy. We saw that with a bit of swing in our innings as well. An incredible knock and a great effort to get to that 180-mark.”Mitchell Marsh, who top-scored for Australia with a strong 33-ball 45, was equally fulsome in his praise of Conway, and suggested the visitors would need to do some more scouting on him ahead of the second match in Dunedin.”It was an incredible innings,” Marsh said. “He is obviously someone we’ll have to make sure we do a lot of homework over the next few days. Days like that you have to take your hat off and say well done. There’s no doubt all our bowling group were well planned; he just had a great day.”With Conway going unsold at his base price of INR 50 lakh at the recent IPL 2021 auction, allrounder James Neesham, who is also his team-mate at Wellington, believes that things would have been different if it had taken place in a couple of months.”Devon has not had a lot of exposure at international level until this point,” Neesham said on Tuesday. “So if the auction was a couple of months later it would have been a different story.”I think he’s shown quite evidently over the last month or so that he’s got what it takes to succeed at the international level. We’ve seen him churn out runs in the domestic circuit over the last four or five seasons that not a lot of people would have the ability to do. For him to come up at the international level earlier in the summer against West Indies and Pakistan and sort of take to it like a fish to water was pretty impressive. I just look forward to seeing him over the next few years to continue that run-scoring.”Related

• Jhye Richardson admits Australia missed their lengths at death

• Devon Conway's unbeaten 99 sets up crushing opening victory for New Zealand

While New Zealand were able to recover from losing three early wickets, the game was all but decided when Australia clattered to 19 for 4 inside five overs with Tim Southee and Trent Boult finding movement under Hagley Oval’s lights that were being used for the first time in international cricket.”The way they swung the ball – they probably swung it for seven or eight overs which, in T20 cricket, is pretty rare but we know they are world-class swing bowlers,” Marsh said. “They have done it for the last 10 years those two. We’ll have to combat that in the next few games if it swings.”Williamson conceded he had been surprised by the amount of assistance his two leading bowlers found. “With the ball it was an outstanding effort. Dew came into play, the guys swung the ball nicely, we weren’t expecting it but was nice to have that asset.”