Mount Maunganui, Dec 19: Devon Conway reached a double century for the first time since his first test innings four years ago, leading New Zealand to 424-3 at lunch Friday on the second day of the third test against the West Indies.
New Zealand lost the nightwatchman Jacob Duffy (17) and an out-of-sorts Kane Williamson (31) in the first session but Conway was immovable and reached 224 not out by lunch. Rachin Ravindra was 4 not out.
New Zealand leads the three-match series 1-0 after the first test was drawn and the Black Caps won the second by nine wickets.
Conway resumed at 178 after batting through all of the first day on which he shared a 323-run opening partnership with Tom Latham who made 137.
He reached his double century after more than seven hours at the crease, from 316 balls and with 28 fours.
Conway made a double century in the first innings of his first test against England in June 2021, immediately after qualifying to play for New Zealand on residential grounds. That remained his highest score through 58 innings until he finally surpassed it on Friday.
New Zealand was 334-1 when the second day began, with Duffy 9 not out. Duffy hit two early boundaries before being caught by wicketkeeper Tevin Imlach off Jayden Seales when the total was 350.
That brought out Williamson who was padded up for all of the first day and in total for 93.5 overs, waiting for his turn to bat. When it came, he was rusty at times, playing and missing and battling timing issues early in his innings. But he survived 60 balls and hit five boundaries in his 31 until he was out driving at a ball on a tempting length which just moved away and flicked the outside edge.
Conway also had trouble at times against a depleted West Indies attack. Kemar Roach is out of action at least for the rest of the second day with a hamstring issue.
Conway was dropped on 206 by Kavem Hodge at short cover off Roston Chase and took chances at times by leaving on length balls which passed close to or over his off stumps. Still, New Zealand’s total passed 400 in 111 overs.
Conway spoke to media after stumps on the first day after the difficult task of opening the batting, especially in New Zealand.
Opening “is a very underappreciated job around the world, not just here,” Conway said. “Yeah, it has been a tough ride. Quite often you rock up day one of a test match and you see it’s pretty green.
“Already mentally you think, well, it’s going to do bits here on this pitch. I think a lot of credit needs to go to a guy like Tom Latham, who’s played 90-odd tests and has done so well.” (AP)
