New Zealand’s Devon Conway out of T20 World Cup final after punching bat

New Zealand will be without wicketkeeper-batsman Devon Conway for their T20 World Cup final with Australia, after he injured himself punching his bat in frustration against England

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New Zealand will be without key player Devon Conway for Sunday’s T20 World Cup final after he picked up a bizarre injury against England.

Conway, whose knock of 46 proved crucial in helping New Zealand to a five-wicket win in their dramatic semi-final, was dismissed in the 14th over after he was stumped advancing down the pitch to Liam Livingstone.

At the time, the dismissal seemed to swing the pendulum back towards Eoin Morgan’s side, and Conway’s frustration was all too evident as he punched his bat whilst leaving the field.

Clearly, he did so with too much aggression, and now the keeper-batsman has been diagnosed with a broken hand.

It means the 30-year-old is ruled out of Sunday’s final against arch-rivals Australia, who pulled off an exhilarating semi-final run-chase of their own to beat Pakistan.

It’s a huge blow for Conway, who burst onto the international scene this summer when he scored 200 on Test debut against England at Lord’s.

And in a released statement New Zealand coach Gary Stead said the Johannesburg-born star was ‘gutted’ by the news.

“Unfortunately Devon Conway broke his hand when he struck his bat after being dismissed against England last night,” said Stead on Thursday.

“We really feel for him, he’s obviously gutted by the news and the fracture he’s got in his hand. He’s very much a team player for us so he’s very remorseful and feels as though he’s let the team down.

“We know we’ll miss him but it’s a great opportunity for someone else to come in to the team now and step up on the biggest of stages.”

Stead added that Conway would also miss the three T20Is and two-Test series between the Black Caps and India, that starts later this month, and would be out for a period of “five to six weeks.”

Tim Seifert, who kept for the Black Caps earlier in the tournament but was dropped to make way for bowler Adam Milne, handing Conway an opportunity with the gloves, is now expected to come back in for the clash with Aaron Finch’s side.

New Zealand will be contesting their first-ever T20 World Cup final on Sunday, having agonisingly missed out on glory in the 50-over version in 2019 when they were beaten by England in a Super Over at Lord’s.