T20 World Cup final: New Zealand batter ruled out after suffering broken hand from punching his bat
A key New Zealand player has been ruled out of the T20 World Cup after breaking his hand in a bizarre post-dismissal reaction.
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New Zealand batsman Devon Conway has been ruled out of the T20 World Cup final against Australia after breaking his right hand when he punched his bat on his dismissal in the semi-final win over England.
Conway will also miss the forthcoming tour of India as well as Sunday’s title match in Dubai.
The left-hander had made 46 when he was out stumped by Jos Buttler off leg-spinner Liam Livingstone, before his team secured a five-wicket win in Wednesday’s semi-final.
The injury will boost Australia’s hopes of claiming its first T20 World Cup, with Conway scoring 129 runs in six innings across the tournament.
Australia take on New Zealand in the ICC T20 World Cup final on Monday (1am AEDT) on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial today.
“It looked a pretty innocuous reactionary incident on the field,” said New Zealand coach Gary Stead.
“But the blow obviously caught the bat between the glove padding and while it’s not the smartest thing he’s done there’s certainly an element of bad luck in the injury.
“He’s absolutely gutted to be ruled out like this at this time.
Devon Conway has been ruled out of the @T20WorldCup Final and following tour to India with a broken right hand. Conway sustained the injury when he struck his bat immediately after being dismissed in last night’s semi-final. More Info | https://t.co/LCMOTJqmqc#T20WorldCuppic.twitter.com/JIm9o6Rhxe
— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) November 11, 2021
Crash: ‘Little country’ deserves status as a cricket giant
— Robert Craddock
How To Upset The Cricket World While Not Upsetting Anyone.
It would make the perfect book title if New Zealand win the T20 World Cup because it sums up one of the most remarkable stories of modern sport.
The little country that let go of all that pent up yet wasted tension that comes with big time sport to find a killer punch that keeps knocking out the big boys.
We can’t keep calling it a coincidence. It’s past that.
New Zealand are world Test champions, missed the 50 over title by a cigarette paper and are now in the T20 final as well following their spectacular defeat of England overnight.
They are no longer giant slayers. They are giants.
At some point we have to concede that their consciously “come what may’’ attitude, where they simply do their best and get on with the job without regret or remorse, has left the world behind.
Simple. Powerful. Brilliant.
While the sledgers of world cricket stew in their own juices, the unpretentious Kiwis simply shrug their shoulders at every setback, move on and don’t waste a calorie of energy.
Play without fear. We hear it all the time but barely anyone manages to do it. They do.
Earlier this week umpire Bruce Oxenford spoke to News Corp and said the Kiwis exist in a mental space which is far removed from their rivals.
He never saw anything quite like it in his 14 years on the international tour and was very happy to express his views because he feels any sporting team could learn and improve if they successfully embraced the Kiwi mindset.
The “good bloke’’ syndrome is only part of it. It’s about playing without mental handbreaks.
“New Zealand just don’t waste energy on things they cannot control,’’ Oxenford said.
“It is such a vital thing for all sports people. If you start concerning yourself with things that go wrong you can forget about the things that need to go right.
“They can get a 50-50 call against them and they say ‘oh well, that is what happens.’ If you get a call against them wrong very often they will come up
to you and say “it wasn’t right but I would have called it that way too.
“They take negative energy out of the game. Honestly, it’s quite incredible.’’
The Kiwis have taken a mindset that seemed to belong on sepia-tinted newsreel footage from a century ago and made it work in the viper’s den of professional sport.
The Kiwis last great mental hurdle is Australia.
As well as they have gone against all other nations it always seems Australia often draws the worst from them for they have won just one of their last 30 Tests against Australia in the last 28 years.
That is why it would be such an interesting match-up if Australia beat Pakistan and play their trans-Tasman rivals in the final.
Australia might even start favourites which would leave the Kiwis to be underdogs ... right where they like it.
Why Cup win would mean more than Ashes
There’s a World Cup up for grabs in the United Arab Emirates but Australia is hunting something just as important … an aura.
That invisible force field that used to make opponents tremble. It’s as big a weapon as a late outswinger or a well-hidden bouncer yet somehow in recent years it has vaporised around Australian teams which once wore it like a suit of armour.
As Shane Warne said recently, teams just don’t fear Australia any more.
The respect is there but the boots don’t quake and the earth doesn’t shake when they rumble into town.
If Australia could win its T20 World Cup semi-final against Pakistan then the final against New Zealand or England it would place the world on notice that Australian cricket is on the rise again.
In terms of a warning shot to the world this would mean even more than an Ashes series win at home because Australia is expected to beat England in Australia. It was never expected to win the T20 World Cup in the UAE.
It’s been a patchy old few years for Australia with just three wins out its last eight Test series and only four Tests – all against India – played in the Covid era.
Australia has been drifting. This is the chance to find that quicker pulse, that electric crackle.
There were days when Australian teams wearing coloured clothes were deemed nigh unbeatable in World Cup cricket.
Australia put together an astonishing 34-match unbeaten streak in the 50 over World Cup between 1999 and 2011 which surely will never be matched by any other nation but that sense of domination is long gone.
Justin Langer, under siege as national coach, has made on honest effort to change his ways in the World Cup and the side appears to be benefiting.
This World Cup is a chance to start something. Australia has no reason to feel inferior to any team left in the tournament.
Big time players tend to win World Cup finals rather than the Flash Harries who float around the globe from one T20 carnival to the next.
Australia is nicely stacked with a Test match attack of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins and batsmen David Warner and Steve Smith.
Warner’s batting skills may be given a supreme examination by Pakistan’s towering left-armed quick and his late inswing which has so impressed Pakistan assistant coach Matthew Hayden.
With Adam Zampa in exceptional form Australia looks covered for spin but it cannot be ruled out that it may play a match when it laments not including Ashton Agar.
Australia’s fast men have at times done their best to be quasi-slow men by working their finger across the seam and dropping their pace.
“He is a special bowler,’’ Hayden said of Afridi.
“When he gets the ball swinging at mid-140kph it is quite amazing. Those thunderbolts are really something.’’
And he is a good team man as well, last week shouting his teammates dinner as they sat around on the grass and talked about the great opportunity to take a World Cup home.
THE TRAGEDY WHICH INSPIRED KIWIS’ STUNNING RISE
By Robert Craddock
An Australian umpire claims New Zealand has found the secret sauce to becoming a World Cup powerhouse by taking negative energy out of the game.
The Kiwis are respected around the globe for being the good guys of cricket, but umpire Bruce Oxenford, who retired from the international panel after a 14-year stint last season, believes their serene state of mind is not simply good for the game but a potent force behind their recent form surge.
The Kiwis are Test match champions of the world after beating India in the final in England and lost the final of the 50-over World Cup to England after a countback when scores were tied.
They now have a chance to snatch another major trophy when they meet England in the semi-final of the T20 World Cup.
Oxenford has umpired them many times and their relaxed mindset, including being gracious and supportive to umpires when they make a mistake, has impressed him to such a degree he tried to adopt a similar approach.
“They are amazing,’’ Oxenford said.
“They could be world champions in all three formats had it not been for an incorrect call on an overthrow in the 50-over World Cup. And that day they just got on with it.
“New Zealand just don’t waste energy on things they cannot control. It is such a vital thing for all sports people. If you start concerning yourself with things that go wrong you can forget about the things that need to go right.
“They can get a 50-50 call against them and they say ‘oh well, that is what happens.’ If you get a call against them wrong very often they will come up to you and say “it wasn’t right but I would have called it that way too.’’
“It’s incredible. It gives umpires confidence the way to umpires the way you think you should. They genuinely wish you well before and during the game. It is nice to be treated like an equal rather than an enemy on the field.
“If you can take all the negative energy out of your psyche it is a great way to go about it. Watching them actually helped me with my umpiring. You think “technology proved I got that one wrong … that’s tough. But I am going to move forward.
“I think it started when Brendon McCullum took over as captain. He took a lead off the All Blacks and giving respect to the opposition. Controlling what you can control and forgetting about the rest.
“The thing about it is it allows debutants to feel a part of things immediately. There is no earning your stripes. You are in.’’
“Kane Williamson is a ripper. Martin Guptill is a cracker. Their fast bowlers — Trent Boult and Tim Southee are brilliant.’’
Oxenford said Phil Hughes’ death when he was struck by a short ball playing Sheffield Shield cricket seven years, was a catalyst for their new mindset.
“They played with absolute freedom after that. They were playing Pakistan in a Test in the UAE when it happened. They did not want to play. They were talked in to finishing the game. When they finally came back they bowled no bouncers and did not appeal. Rod Tucker said to them you have to appeal.
“They basically just went out and slogged and played brilliantly and thought ‘why don’t we play like this all the time?’’
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Originally published as T20 World Cup final: New Zealand batter ruled out after suffering broken hand from punching his bat
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