Devon Conway and Tom Latham gave New Zealand full control on the opening day of the third Test against West Indies at Mount Maunganui.
The two openers shared a huge first wicket stand of 323 runs. It is the second highest opening partnership in New Zealand Test history. Only Glenn Turner and Terry Jarvis put on more. They added 387 runs against West Indies in 1972.
Conway stayed unbeaten on 178 at stumps. He batted through the day with calm control. Captain Latham supported him well and scored 137. New Zealand ended day one on 334 for 1 at the Bay Oval.
The partnership also set a new record on home soil. It is now the highest opening stand in Tests played in New Zealand. The earlier mark was 276 runs, shared by two different pairs across different eras.
This stand is also the highest opening partnership in the history of the World Test Championship, which began in 2019. It went past the 317 run stand by Rohit Sharma and Mayank Agarwal for India against South Africa.
The Latham Conway pair reached another milestone as well. This was their fourth century opening stand in Test cricket. Only John Wright and Trevor Franklin have more for New Zealand. They managed five.
It was also the second time Latham and Conway crossed 150 together. They had earlier added 183 against Pakistan in Karachi in 2022.
As an opening pair, they now have 1,721 runs from 43 innings. That is the highest by any New Zealand opening duo. They went past the record held by John Wright and Bruce Edgar.
Both openers scoring centuries in the same innings is also rare for New Zealand. This was only the sixth such instance in Test history. The previous one came in 2019 against Bangladesh at Hamilton.
West Indies had a long wait for their first wicket. They needed 86.4 overs to break the opening stand. It was one of the longest waits for a first wicket in this century.
The total of 334 for 1 is also special. It is the second highest score by New Zealand at the end of day one with only one wicket down on home soil.
Conway’s 178 not out ranks high as well. It is the eighth highest individual score by any batter on the first day of a Test. Among New Zealand players, only Brendon McCullum and Latham himself have scored more on an opening day.
The day also stood out for another reason. New Zealand chose to bat first at home for the first time in 14 years. The last time a New Zealand captain did so was in 2011.
New Zealand lead the three match series 1-0. After this dominant start, they will look to press harder on day two.
