New Zealand batsman Devon Conway, 29, broke a number of records on his way to 200 against England in the first Test at Lord’s on Friday. (Day 2 Highlights | News)
Conway put himself into the record books with a double hundred on his Test debut and also broke number of other records.
The New Zealand opener broke Sourav Ganguly’s long standing record at the Lord’s. Ganguly, who is now the BCCI president, had scored 131 on his Test debut at what is referred to as the Mecca of cricket in 1996.
Interestingly, both Conway and Ganguly share their birthday - July 8 - but are separated by nearly 20 years in age.
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South Africa-born Conway has impressed in his first international season for his adopted home country last summer in ODIs and T20s.
Ahead of leaving for England the batsman was in news for sprinkling kitty litter on practice wickets to simulate spin bowling pitching in the rough created by bowlers’ footmarks.
The weird preparation was for countering Axar Patel and R Ashwin’s spin threat in the upcoming World Test Championship final starting June 18.
He has so far played three ODIs and 14 T20 internationals for his side. Australian batsman Harry Graham had scored 107 against England on his Test debut in 1893.
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Here’s the list of records that Conway broke on his dream debut:
~ Conway broke former India captain Sourav Ganguly's 25-year-old record of registering the highest Test score on debut at Lord's. Conway, also a left-handed batsman, had remained unbeaten 136 on the first day.
~ The South African-born 29-year-old became the sixth cricketer to hit a hundred on debut at the iconic venue.
~ With his century, Conway became only the third non-English batsman to score a century on Test debut at Lord's.
~ Conway reached the three-figure mark in style, smashing fast-medium bowler Ollie Robinson for a six in the 61st over of the innings.
~ Conway is the oldest player to hit 200 on his Test debut, and his runs accounted for 52.91 per cent of New Zealand's first-innings total.
~ He became just the second New Zealand batsman, after Matthew Sinclair in 1999, to score a double century on his Test debut
~ Conway is just the seventh player ever to score a double century on his debut in Test
~ Conway batted for 9 hours and 38 minutes in total for his double century and it’s the second-longest innings on Test debut
~ He is now the individual scorer on debut in men's Tests in England. He went past Ranjitsinhji's 154 not out, coming against Australia in 1896 at the Old Trafford.
