T20 World Cup 2021: Devon Conway grabs a stunner to send back Mohammad Hafeez

Devon Conway left many mouths opened and eyes wide with a stunning effort against Pakistan to send back Mohammad Hafeez during his team’s encounter in Sharjah on October 26. In the 11th over, Hafeez charged down against Mitchell Santner to loft him towards long-off in what seemed would end as a certain boundary. It turned out quite the opposite as Conway made enough ground, dived full length and despite being in an awkward position, managed to gobble the ball moments before it touched the turf to send Hafeez packing for 11.

Earlier, Conway also top-scored for his team with the bat after New Zealand was inserted to bat in their tournament opener on a day that started rather ominously for them. New Zealand’s ace pacer Lockie Ferguson was ruled out of the tournament with a calf tear, with Adam Milne named his replacement.

“Ferguson felt tightness in his right calf following training and a subsequent MRI scan on game-day revealed a grade two tear which would require three to four weeks recovery,” New Zealand Cricket informed in a statement.

“It’s a real shame for Lockie to have this happen on the eve of the tournament and the entire team is really feeling for him right now,” New Zealand head coach Gary Stead said. “He’s a massive part of our T20 side and has been in such good form. To lose him at this time is a blow. However, we are fortunate to have a like for like replacement in the form of Adam Milne who has been with the squad training for the past two weeks.”

Milne, who was a travelling reserve and was active for the Mumbai Indians in the recently-concluded 14th edition of the Indian Premier League, awaits approval from the ICC before being available to play in the tournament.

Meanwhile, New Zealand were restricted to 134/8 by Pakistan in their opening game, with Haris Rauf picking four wickets. Pakistan entered into the game with a 10-wicket victory over India in their opening fixture on October 24 in Dubai, while New Zealand will face India on October 31.

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