New Zealand Openers Break Test Milestones Against West Indies

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

Final 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 achieved a historic first by becoming the first openers in Test match history to register tons in both innings of a match, leaving the West Indies a massive 462-run target for victory.

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

The partnership had put on a colossal 323-run stand in the first innings, totaling 515 runs overall—a new record for the most runs by an opening pair in a five-day game.

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

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

Match Context

Earlier on day four, the Windies were bowled out for 420, facing a deficit of 155 runs, before Latham and Conway again took to the crease.

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

At the close of play, West Indies openers had reached 43-0, with John Campbell digging in to score two runs from 50 balls, while Brandon King was more aggressive on 37.