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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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