Mount Maunganui, December 18, 2025: New Zealand openers Devon Conway and Tom Latham produced a record-breaking partnership to give their team a commanding start in the third Test against the West Indies on Thursday at the Bay Oval.
Captain Tom Latham’s decision to bat first paid dividends as he and Conway dominated the West Indies bowlers, compiling a marathon 323-run partnership over 86 overs. Both batsmen reached centuries, with Latham scoring 137 off 246 balls, including 15 fours and a six, before being dismissed by Kemar Roach. Conway remained unbeaten on 178 off 279 deliveries, featuring 25 boundaries, and will resume alongside nightwatchman Jacob Duffy on day two with New Zealand at 334/1.
The stand is New Zealand’s second-highest partnership in Tests, only behind Glenn Turner and Terry Jarvis’s 378-run effort against the West Indies in Georgetown in 1972. It is also the highest opening partnership in New Zealand’s Test history, surpassing the previous best of 278, recorded twice in 1930 and 1999.
Speaking after the innings, Conway expressed gratitude for the partnership, “A lot of credit needs to go to Tom with the way he played. Quite often throughout that partnership, he just reminded me about looking straight, be there, be present, don’t look too far ahead.”
New Zealand heads into day two with a solid position in the three-match series, currently leading 1-0 after a nine-wicket win in the second Test at Wellington.
