New Zealand openers Devon Conway and Tom Latham set a record on the fourth day of the third Test against the West Indies at Mount Maunganui on Sunday. Conway and Latham scored their second centuries of the match, becoming the first pair of openers to score twin tons in the same game in all first-class cricket.
The duo’s efforts, along with a 72-run partnership off just 37 balls between Kane Williamson and Rachin Ravindra, helped New Zealand extend their dominance. They had, earlier, taken a 155-run first-inning lead by bowling out West Indies for 420.
New Zealand were in the driver’s seat but the West Indian openers Brandon King and John Campbell once again put on a defiant stand, taking them to stumps without any damage done and 419 runs away from their target.
Conway and Latham, who added 323 runs for the first wicket in the first innings, struck centuries again as they put on a 192-run opening stand in the home side’s second innings. The visitors were, thus, set a target of 462 on a wicket which had some uneven bounce.
West Indian Kavem Hodge, who had scored an unbeaten career-best 123, got the breakthroughs in New Zealand’s second innings, removing the openers thanks to some terrific catching by Jayden Seales in the deep.
The day started off with Jacob Duffy removing Phillip and Hope in his first two overs. While Phillip was done in by extra bounce, Hope tried to pull away a proper short ball and top edged it to long leg. But like Phillip, Seales put in a solid rearguard effort to extend West Indies’ resistance.
However, Hodge chose to let the tailenders face a large chunk of the bowling. Of the 69 balls Hodge and Seales faced for their 29-run partnership, Seales faced 53. When Ajaz Patel had Seales bowled with a slider, Hodge took a single off the first ball of the next over and Michael Rae had Kemar Roach nicking off next ball to end West Indies’ innings. Roach had walked off injured on the first day and didn’t bowl on the second day. He didn’t bowl during New Zealand’s second innings either.
New Zealand openers Conway and Latham set new record
With the awkward bounce even more pronounced when the ball was hard and new, Conway and Latham had to start off watchfully. While Latham was happy to hang around, Conway took charge of the scoring. He used his feet against Roston Chase’s offspin launch him over the leg side. It took him just 63 deliveries to bring up his half-century.
Latham soon shifted gears after ambling to 18 off 52 deliveries. His only boundary until then came off an under-edge that went through Tevin Imlach’s legs, but he hit Chase for back-to-back boundaries to start the 21st over. He pulled a Glenn Phillips long hop to the long-leg boundary to bring up his half-century off 77 balls.
There was a 49-ball period without a boundary after that, during which Conway became the first New Zealand batter to follow up a double-century with a century in the same Test. In the final over before tea, Latham went 6, 4, 4 against Phillips, which included a no-ball, in an 18-run over.
The first over after tea brought West Indies some respite as Conway didn’t get enough distance when he tried to launch Hodge over midwicket. Seales ran to his left, grabbing the ball above his head before tossing it in the air and catching it again after crossing the boundary rope and jumping back in.
Latham then found the boundary a couple more times en route to a 16th Test century before miscuing a hoick off Hodge that Seales had to dive to catch at deep midwicket.
It was an odd day for Williamson. Even when he was trying to slog it away or skip down the ground, he was struggling to get any rhythm but managed to keep the scoreboard ticking. He managed one six and two fours, his only boundaries in a quick knock of 40 off 37 balls. Rachin, meanwhile, found it easier to take on Chase and Hodge, consistently lofting them in the region between midwicket and long-off.
King and Campbell had put on 111 in the first innings, and the duo once again gave West Indies team a platform to build on. Even though there is a long time to go in the game, that West Indies will begin the fifth day with all 10 wickets in hand will give them a big boost.
Brief scores: New Zealand 575/8 decl & 306/2 decl (Tom Latham 101, Devon Conway 100; Kavem Hodge 2/80) vs West Indies 420 (Kevam Hodge 123, Brandon King 63: Jacob Duffy 4/86) & 43/0 (Brandon King 37 batting).
