New Zealand Opening Batsmen Shatter Test Match Records Versus West Indies

Cricket action
Tom Latham and Devon Conway have put New Zealand in a commanding position.

Third Test, Mount Maunganui (day four of five)

  • New Zealand 575-8 dec: Conway 227, Latham 137 and 306-2 dec: Latham 101, Conway 100
  • West Indies 420: Hodge 123 and 43-0

New Zealand's Tom Latham and Devon Conway etched their names in the record books by becoming the first openers in Test cricket to register tons in both innings of a match, setting the West Indies a massive 462-run target for victory.

Latham notched up 137 and 101 in this series decider, while Conway added to his mammoth 227 in the first innings with a composed 100 in the second.

The partnership had shared a colossal 323-run stand in the first innings, combining for 515 runs overall—a new record for the most runs by an opening pair in a single Test match.

Furthermore, Conway became just the 10th batter in Test history to achieve a double century and a hundred in the same match.

He emulated legends like Greg Chappell, Sunil Gavaskar, Graham Gooch, Brian Lara, and Kumar Sangakkara in achieving this extraordinary feat.

Game Situation

Earlier on day four, the Windies were bowled out for 420, trailing by 155 runs, before Latham and Conway resumed their partnership.

Along with contributions from Kane Williamson (40) and Rachin Ravindra (46), the New Zealand openers propelled their side to 306-2 before a sporting declaration, setting the visitors a near-impossible target of 462 to win and square the series.

At the stumps, West Indies openers had navigated to 43-0, with John Campbell showing great patience to score two runs from 50 balls, while Brandon King was more aggressive on 37.

Ann Brown
Ann Brown

Maya Chen is a tech journalist and innovation strategist with over a decade of experience covering emerging technologies and digital transformation.