New Zealand debutant Devon Conway smashed a handful of records some dating back to the 1800s — on way to his double century during the first innings of the 1st Test vs England at Lord’s. The southpaw powered the Black Caps to 278 runs in their first innings.
After stellar starts to his limited-overs career, Conway was due for a dream start in red-ball cricket. And man, he made his debut memorable in the best way possible. He single-handedly carried the Kiwi innings after losing wickets in crunch moments.
The 29-year-old, who shifted from South Africa to New Zealand in 2017 was unbeaten on 136 runs at the end of day 1. Devon Conway and Henry Nicholls stitched an important partnership to put the Black Caps back in the fray before carrying the onus on day 2.
Nicholls holed out of fine leg after a well-made fifty before English pacers came down hard. The Kiwis lost five wickets for 31 runs but Devon Conway never gave up. He remained unfazed and never missed an opportunity to rotate strike. Though he kept losing partners, Conway kept the scorecard ticking with timely boundaries and compiled a magnificent double ton with a six. Neil Wagner played a gem of a knock to help the southpaw reached the milestone.
Here are some of the records Devon Conway broke on his way to the maverick innings:
1. Highest Scores on debut in England:
Devon Conway (200 vs Eng, 2021)
KS Ranjitsinhji (154* vs Aus, 1896)
and WG Grace (152 vs Aus, 1880)
2. Highest score by a New Zealand player at Lord’s
Martin Donnelly’s 206
Devon Conway 200
Bevan Congdon 175
3. Highest scores by debutants in Tests
287 Tip Foster Eng v Aus 1903/04
222* Jacques Rudolph SA v Ban 2003
214 Lawrence Rowe WI v NZ 1971/72
214 Mathew Sinclair NZ v WI 1999/00
201* Brendon Kuruppu SL v NZ 1987
200 DEVON CONWAY NZ v Eng 2021
4. Highest scores by debutants in away Tests
287 – Tip Foster (ENG) in Sydney, 1903
222* – Jacques Rudolph (RSA) in Chattogram, 2003
210* – Kyle Mayers (WI) in Chattogram, 2021
200 – Devon Conway (NZ) in London, 2021
168 – Fawad Alam (PAK) in Colombo, 2009
Apart from these records, Devon Conway had already etched his name in the Lord’s honours board. He also went past former India skipper Sourav Ganguly’s record 25-year-old record of the highest Test score on debut at Lord’s, when he went past 131.