Tom Latham, however, decided to bat first with his team because he did not want to be duped by the 22-yard appearance. One of those iconic New Zealand pitches was stretched out by Mount Maunganui in Bay Oval; its tint was identical to that of the verdant outfield. A doomsday green stripe for anyone hoping to get some bat time. In the hopes that his army of formidable fast bowlers would make early incisions, Roston Chase happily accepted his opponent’s apparent boldness.
To their credit, they managed to get the ball off the pitch and into the air, repeatedly hitting Devon Conway’s and Latham’s bats in an exciting first thirty minutes. However, on a bright morning, the opening duo snubbed the early nip and dug their claws into what ultimately proved to be a futile attempt by the visitors.
Thursday doubled down and exhausted the West Indies, both physically and morally, after they had survived many humiliating days of Test cricket in recent years. West Indies suffered a dramatic swing in fortunes following the first eight overs, when pacers skilfully changed their lengths and consistently hit the outside edge of both left-handers’ bats. This was caused by the careless quicks who were unable to maintain the pressure. Conway and Latham locked in for what was going to be a long alliance for the remainder of the morning session.
In the first session, they defeated New Zealand 83/0, and after the lunch break, they reached their fifties. During an over from Roach, Conway teased the pacer by smashing a full toss straight for the third boundary, swivel-pulling a short ball past mid-wicket, and driving a full ball down the ground. The players had to come inside for a short rain break. However, the West Indies were unable to successfully change direction even after regrouping for twenty minutes.
Conway reached his fifty-three overs before Latham, who dismissed Anderson Phillip for a six over fine-leg.
The New Zealand duo took up where they left off and continued to play comfortably when play resumed. The West Indies bowled 29 overs without a maiden in the middle session, utterly losing control. Latham and Conway scored 133 in 29 overs during the second session after scoring 83 in 28 overs during the first. During this time, boundaries came more naturally to Chase as he considered his possibilities and depth. By driving a flung up full delivery against the spinner, Conway reached his hundred, his sixth in Test cricket.
When a throw from Jayden Seales kicked out from length and hit him on the left forearm, it was the only time he truly lost focus. However, even that was removed with a small amount of the physiotherapist’s miracle spray. Towards the close of the second session, Chase returned to Roach, the leader of his bowlers, but the batters were unflinching going into the interval.
On the other side of Tea, Roach asked some questions by convincingly defeating Latham, but there was no compensation for it. Rather, Latham reached his century, which was his 15th in Test matches, with a boundary off Roach. There were only two overs between the 61st and the 70th in which West Indies did not give up a single boundary. To make matters worse for the West Indies, wicketkeeper Tevin Imlach blew a chance when Phillip got Latham to edge one behind.
Just before the next ball was due, the two brought up the 300. Waiting till the 84th over, the West Indies did not immediately seize it. However, Roach eventually managed to get through by directing a ball around the stumps, which caused it to straighten and fly off the outside edge of Latham’s willow. After Latham and Conway had the joint-12th-highest opening stand in Test history with 323 runs, Chase’s diving low catch at first slip was the lone wicket of the day. On Friday, Conway had the chance to transform it into a double tonne after going to stumps at 178, with an asterisk still visible next to his score.
Home