New Zealand have given rise to a new star in the form of Devon Conway, who broke a handful of records with his unbeaten 136 against England in the first Test at the Lord’s Cricket Stadium. The southpaw guided his team in a solid position at the end of Day 1 of the first Test against England.
The Black Caps made a steady start with openers Tom Latham and Conway adding 58 for the first wicket. Latham was into his 20s when he chopped one onto his stumps, giving debutant Ollie Robinson his maiden Test wicket. England pegged back in the second session with two important wickets but the Kiwis managed to hold the fort going to tea at 144 for three.
Devon Conway scores a double century on debut
After tea, Devon Conway continued to impress and reached his century off his 163rd ball, whipping Robinson for a boundary. He stitched a 100+ plus partnership with Henry Nicholls to put New Zealand on top as they finished the day at 246 for three.
In the process, Conway became the 12th New Zealand batsman to score a hundred on Test debut. And he also joins an elite list of Lord’s centurions on debut which includes former India captain Sourav Ganguly and former England captain Andrew Strauss. Ganguly had scored 131 against England in 1996 while Strauss’ 112 came against the Kiwis in 2004.
Later, Devon Conway went past Sourav Ganguly’s 131 in 1996 as he remained unbeaten on 136 runs at the end of the first day’s play. The southpaw carried on the good work even on the second day marking his Test debut with a double century. Eventually, the English side has to resort to a run-out to get Conway out after his 347-ball stay.
Let us look at some unknown facts about Devon Conway:
1) Devon Conway shifted from South Africa to New Zealand in 2017 after failing to make an impact in the domestic circuit. He chose the land of Kiwis because of his best friends, fellow South Africa domestic players Malcolm Nofal and Michael Rippon.
2) Conway has been the leading run-scorer in Plunkett Shield in the 2018-19 season when the southpaw amassed 659 runs in seven matches, and in the 2019-20 season, Conway smashed 701 runs from six games. In the 2019-20 season, he topped the run charts in all three domestic competitions – the first-class Plunket Shield, the List A Ford Trophy, and the T20 Super Smash
3) In April 2020, Devon Conway was named as the men’s domestic player of the year by New Zealand Cricket at their annual award ceremony.
4) Conway’s first love was football as his father was a football coach at a local coach in Johannesburg. He would train alongside his friend Elton Jantjies, who went on to play for the Springboks. Conway would eventually choose to play cricket professionally only because “it lasts longer”.
5) Former South Africa opener Neil McKenzie is Devin Conway’s favourite batsman. He has watched him bat on the television while growing up,
