New Zealand left-handed batter Devon Conway has almost taken a stride forward in international cricket after being ignored for a long time.
The New Zealand wicket-keeper scored a massive double hundred in the first innings and backed it with a stupendous century in the second, making him the first-ever Kiwi batter to do so.
New Zealand finally kickstarted their WTC 2025-27 cycle after a long wait. Almost 6 months into the WTC, the Kiwis got their first red-ball series scheduled. The West Indies are currently on their tour to New Zealand and are lagging behind with a 1-0 margin in the series.
The series has been largely inflicted by injuries for both teams; despite which, this seems to be an exciting series from the West Indies point of view, since they got their first points on the board after a long wait of 6 matches in this WTC. The likes of Shai Hope, Kavem Hodge and Justin Greaves have shown some grit for the Windies.
Devon Conway becomes the first-ever NZ batter with this unique record
The left-handed batter Devon Conway rose to prominence in the longest format of the game ever since his debut game. He once became the second New Zealand batter to have scored a double century on Test debut.
Coming into the third Test of a fine series that he has had till now, Devon Conway, alongside the skipper Tom Latham, batted throughout Day 1 and then almost the entire first session of Day 2 to reach his double hundred.
After the patient and composed innings, Conway scored another century in the second innings; however, this time the innings seemed more fluent and quick. With 227 in the first innings and 100 in the second, Conway became the first New Zealand player with a double century and a century in the same game.
Tom Latham follows with twin hundreds at Maunganui
The Test has been a special Test for both the New Zealand openers, as there has been a flurry of runs. Skipper Tom Latham, another left-hander who opens the innings alongside Devon Conway, was part of a 200+ stand in the first innings and then another century stand in the second.
The skipper himself backed his batter in fine form, with two hundreds across both innings of the game. Latham scored 137 runs in the first innings and backed it with another 101 runs in the second innings.
At the back of the terrific hands from the openers across both innings, New Zealand could creep past the total of 575 and 306 across their two innings, posting a target of 462 runs for the Men from the Caribbean.
Devon Conway went unsold in the IPL auction-Will the franchises regret it?
The double-centurion Devon Conway has shown his fine form and has also proved his calibre as a batter. Although this is the longest format of the game, which differs significantly from the shorter T20 format, his performance would surely lead to some regret for the IPL teams that ignored him in the IPL auction.
Conway previously featured in the IPL for the Chennai Super Kings, and during his initial seasons, he was instrumental at the top; however, injuries cut his reign short. In this year’s mini-auction, Conway was repeatedly ignored and went unsold. Devon Conway would likely be one of the key players for the PSL drafts.