Pakistan wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan spent two nights in a hospital due to a chest infection before the team’s semi-final loss against Australia on Thursday at the T20 World Cup.
Team doctor Najeeb Soomro said that Rizwan was admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) in a local hospital in Dubai on Tuesday, but was declared fit on the morning of the semi-final.
“He spent two nights in the ICU, made an incredible recovery and was deemed fit before the match,” Soomro said after Pakistan lost by five wickets with Matthew Wade smashing three successive sixes against Shaheen Afridi in the penultimate over. “We can see his great determination and tenacity that shows his spirit of performing for the country and we can see how he responded today.”
Photo: AFP
Rizwan made 67, but Pakistan’s 176-4 was not enough as Australia reached 177-5 with an over to spare.
Rizwan finished the tournament as the second-highest run-scorer, with the final to play, behind captain Babar Azam’s 303.
He made 281 runs with three half centuries and also became the first batter in the world to complete 1,000 T20 runs in a calendar year.
Photo: AFP
NZ injury debacle
Reuters
New Zealand are to replace Devon Conway with Tim Seifert in tomorrow’s T20 World Cup final against Australia after the wicketkeeper-batsman broke his right hand with a frustrated punch of his bat after his dismissal against England.
Conway, who hit a 38-ball 46 in Wednesday’s semi-final win, was sore and sorry after being ruled out of both the World Cup decider and the following tour of India.
“While it’s not the smartest thing he’s done, there’s certainly an element of bad luck in the injury,” New Zealand coach Gary Stead said. “He’s certainly remorseful around it, it’s an honest mistake he’s made. He knows it’s having an impact on our team as well, but that will provide an opportunity for someone else to come into the side and step up on the biggest stage now.”
“Sometimes strange things happen and we find heroes in other places as well,” Stead said.
Conway’s injury is a needless headache for Stead and captain Kane Williamson as New Zealand prepare for their first T20 World Cup final against an Australia team with their tails up after beating Pakistan in Thursday’s second semi-final.
Conway batted at No. 4 against England, but Seifert would be unlikely to replace his teammate in the higher slot.
“Whether we bring Glenn Phillips up one and put Seifert in behind him is something that Kane and I have to work through over the next day or so,” Stead said.
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