Stats – West Indies’ 86.4-over wait and the Latham-Conway party

323 runs – The opening partnership between Tom Latham and Devon Conway is the second-highest for New Zealand in Tests, only behind the 387 Glenn Turner and Terry Jarvis put up, also against West Indies in Georgetown in 1972.

This was also the highest opening partnership in New Zealand, going past the previous best of 276 – twice. Those were recorded in 1930 and in 1999.

The 86.4 overs taken by West Indies to take their first wicket was the fourth-longest this century, the longest being the 114.1 overs taken by Zimbabwe against West Indies in Bulawayo in 2023.

178* – Conway’s score at the end of the first day is the third-highest by a New Zealand batter on the opening day of a Test, only behind Brendon McCullum’s 195 against Sri Lanka in 2014 and Latham’s 186* against Bangladesh in 2022, both in Christchurch.

2 – This was the sixth instance of both openers scoring centuries in New Zealand’s 483 Test matches, the last of them coming in 2019 against Bangladesh when Latham and Jeet Raval both got to the mark.

This was the second 150+ opening partnership between Latham and Conway in Tests, the other being 183 against Pakistan in Karachi in 2022. For New Zealand, only John Wright and Trevor Franklin have the same record.

It is also the fourth century opening stand between Latham and Conway in Tests, the second-highest for New Zealand after Wright and Franklin.

Latham and Conway have now put together 1721 runs as an opening pair in Tests in 43 innings, making them the most successful New Zealand opening pair in the format, going past the 1655 runs between Wright and Bruce Edgar in 56 innings.

(SOURCE: ESPNcricinfo)