Devon Conway and Tom Latham shatter 95-year-old record and more with mammoth opening stand vs West Indies

This was also just the sixth time in New Zealand’s Test history that both openers scored centuries. Latham was involved the last time it happened as well, in 2019 against Bangladesh with Jeet Raval being the other player.

Latham and Conway have now become the most succesfull opening partnership of all time for New Zealand in Test cricket. Their opening stand has now produced 1721 runs, going past the previous record of 1655 by John Wright and Bruce Edgar.

Conway said after stumps that the idea for them was always to pile on as many runs as possible if they get to bat first. “Mentally, I really knew that we were going to bat. It was a guaranteed bat day because I had a feeling that they would have seen a green wicket, and with the make-up of their bowling attack, they probably wanted to bowl first.

“In the first 15-20 overs, they seemed to be bowling in really good areas and moving the ball quite a lot. I was constantly fighting myself throughout that first hour. Funny enough, I spoke to Tom Latham at lunch and I said I almost felt like I forgot how to bat after that first hour… Just everything felt really awkward. The trigger, it’s just part of the game, batting… That happens every now and then, but I just try to remind myself just to get through that.”

The conditions changed after lunch though and Conway got into a good flow. He eventually ended up hitting as many as 25 fours. I think it was a combination of two things. The ball got a little bit softer, a little bit older, and the wicket actually sped up a little bit. It offered up some good scoring opportunities for myself and Tom.

“One of my things is to play with freedom, play with a positive mindset, keep looking to score. I just try to remind myself to do that, particularly after lunch. If they miss, I want to capitalise and put them under pressure.”