07/18/25 11:32:00
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07/18 11:31 CDT Conway rides his luck to lead New Zealand to comfy T20 win over
Zimbabwe
Conway rides his luck to lead New Zealand to comfy T20 win over Zimbabwe
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) --- If Devon Conway was a cat, he used eight of nine
lives to lead New Zealand over Zimbabwe by eight wickets in Twenty20 cricket on
Friday.
Conway was dropped on 1, should have been run out on 34, survived a strong lbw
appeal and miscued shots all over Harare Sports Club that happened to land
safely.
He ended up hitting the winnings runs, pulling Trevor Gwandu to the midwicket
boundary for New Zealand to win with 6.1 overs to spare.
Zimbabwe was made to bat first and scored only 120-7, and New Zealand replied
with 122-2, Conway top-scoring with an unbeaten 59 off 40 balls, his first T20
half-century in 17 months.
"Got a bit lucky early and fortunate I got through that period," Conway said.
"It was nice to spend some time in the middle."
New Zealand has two wins from two games in the T20 tri-series with South Africa.
Zimbabwe opening batters Wessly Madhevere and Brian Bennett greeted the New
Zealanders aggressively. But the run rate was falling from eight an over even
before Bennett, 20 off 19, gave Henry his first wicket at the end of the
powerplay.
New Zealand could count on three spinners to Zimbabwe's one, and Mitchell
Santner and Rachin Ravindra put the brakes on the home side. The only other
decent scorer was Madhevere, who backed away to hit Adam Milne to the off side
and lost his off stump after 36 off 32 balls.
Henry took 3-26 and Santner and Ravindra a wicket each.
When New Zealand batted, Blessing Muzarabani dropped Conway in the first over
but made up for it by dismissing Tim Seifert in the second.
As Conway rode his luck, Ravindra was on the charge with three consecutive
boundaries off Gwandu and a six over deep backward point. His 30 off 19 lifted
New Zealand more than halfway to the target.
Conway didn't look comfortable until he was in the high 30s, but he and Daryl
Mitchell, 26 off 19, steered New Zealand home by a wide margin.
Zimbabwe plays South Africa next on Sunday.
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AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
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