New Zealand batter Devon Conway has said he was a "bit shocked" when he was asked to open in the recently concluded three-match T20I series against the West Indies, and added it surprised him that he was able to give his team a good start in all the games.
"I was a little bit shocked when I got asked to open the batting, so it was a nice surprise (to score at the top of the innings)," the 31-year-old Conway said on SENZ Mornings.Conway had scores of 43, 42 and 21 while partnering with seasoned opener Martin Guptill, and together they played a key role in the Black Caps winning the series 2-1.
Conway had not played international cricket since New Zealand's forgettable tour of England in June, where they lost all three Tests, and the batter said his comeback has "been enjoyable"."It's (opening the batting) a position for me that I'm familiar with playing with Wellington up the order at the top.
It's been a really good opportunity for me to get up there alongside Guppy (Guptill) so it's been pretty exciting and very enjoyable," added Conway.Conway is now looking forward to the three-match ODI series against the West Indies beginning later on Wednesday, hoping to do well ahead of this October's ICC T20 World Cup in Australia and the ODI World Cup in India next year.
"I'm pretty happy with how things have gone. I would have liked to have sort of contributed more, especially in those knocks where I got starts. I got a couple of 40s, 20s (and) it would've been nice to have kicked on and got a big one but at the end of the day we still won the series, so (we're) very happy in the camp altogether as a unit."
Following the ODIs against the West Indies, New Zealand will head to Australia for a three-match ODI series in September before commencing their World Cup campaign against Pakistan on October 8.