West Indies Openers Lead Strong Reply After Devon Conway Hits Double Century For New Zealand

Brandon King and John Campbell successfully negotiated 23 overs in fading light, taking the West Indies to 110/0 at the close of day two of the third Test, following New Zealand’s declaration at a formidable 575/8 at Mount Maunganui.

King remained unbeaten on 55, while Campbell was not out on 45, leaving the West Indies still trailing by 465 runs.

New Zealand’s innings was anchored by Devon Conway’s impressive 227, with late contributions from Rachin Ravindra, who scored 72 not out, including six fours and two sixes, and Ajaz Patel, who remained 30 not out. This allowed captain Tom Latham to give his bowlers over an hour to test the West Indies openers.

However, King and Campbell proved resilient, comfortably dealing with the new ball and scoring

freely on the flat Bay Oval pitch, as New Zealand’s bowlers struggled to find their length. King reached his 50 off just 62 balls, hitting nine fours, while Campbell made his 45 from 60 deliveries, including seven boundaries.

Campbell was playing despite nursing a sore right hand, injured in the nets before the match. The injury was severe enough that he might have missed the Test if there had been other options available for the injury-hit West Indies squad. Additionally, there are concerns about Kemar Roach, who has a hamstring strain, and leading batsman Shai Hope, who was ill and stayed at the team hotel on Friday.

West Indies all-rounder Justin Greaves praised his team’s effort, considering the challenges they faced.

“After the day we had yesterday, coming back today to take eight wickets is a really good effort from our boys,” Greaves said. “With Kemar Roach down, everyone had to step up, so I’m very pleased with our performance.”

Three West Indian bowlers took two wickets each, with Greaves standing out with 2/83 from 29 overs, while Jayden Seales took 2/100 and Anderson Phillip claimed 2/154.

The West Indian bowling unit showed determination after lunch, led by a sharp spell from Seales. He trapped Conway lbw at 432/4, and the West Indies removed two more batsmen as New Zealand went to tea at 508/6.

After tea, Glenn Phillips edged to first slip off Phillip, and Zak Foulkes was bowled by a delivery that clipped the top of off stump. Patel contributed with two sixes in the final over before the declaration, scoring 30 off 30 balls.

Reflecting on the team’s batting performance, Ravindra said, “We’re pretty pleased with that. Dev’s knock was incredible, and the way he and Tommy set the tone was superb.”

Resuming at 424/3 after lunch, New Zealand aimed to capitalize on an under-strength West Indian attack missing Roach. The tourists struggled in the field, with Kavem Hodge dropping Conway on 206 and Greaves missing a catch off Daryl Mitchell at nine.

Seales made the first breakthrough in the afternoon, darting one past Conway’s inside edge to trap him lbw. Conway’s three runs after lunch took him past the top score of his batting idol, Neil McKenzie, who scored 226 for South Africa against Bangladesh in 2008.

Mitchell fell for 11, edging to the wicketkeeper off Roston Chase, who also caught Tom Blundell off Seales. Earlier, Conway, resuming on 178, brought up his second Test double-century with a cut to the point boundary off a Seales short ball, reaching 200 off 316 balls with 28 fours. Greaves then dismissed Williamson for 31, caught by Imlach just before lunch.