Black Cap Openers Blast the Record Book to Smithereens Against the Windies at the Bay Oval
 
The Bay Oval at Mount Maunganui grabbed a prominent place in ICC Test Match history at the conclusion of the sixth test at the venue, between New Zealand's Black Caps and the West Indies. 
 
The two New Zealand opening pair, of South African-born Devon Conway and skipper Tom Latham, dominated the first day's play on December 18, 2025.
 
A 323 opening stand was only broken after Latham was dismissed for 137. Conway continued on, on day two, until he was removed by way of LBW from the bowling of Justin Greaves with 227 runs to his name.
 
The marathon opening stand set the platform for a number of major milestones.
 
The New Zealand second turn at bat continued the Conway and Latham domination of the five-day encounter at the Bay Oval.
 
Conway was the first to go for a neat one hundred runs, caught Seales - bowled Hodge, with Latham dismissed by the same combination for 101 runs.
 
The Bay of Plenty ground lived up to a reputation of providing an avalanche of runs while still producing a result on the fifth day, with the score book showing New Zealand dismissed their opponents for 138, in the second innings, to claim a 323 run win.
 
South African-born Devon Conway wrote his name in ICC test history forever, becoming just the tenth batter to score a double century and a century in the same match.
 
Australian Doug Walters broke new territory when he achieved the double century and a century in a test, at the iconic Sydney Cricket Ground, against the West Indies in February 1969. Walters' first innings produced 242 runs with a further 103 to follow in his second dig. 
 
Indian legend, Sunil Gavaskar, followed the Australian just two years later against the Windies at home at Queens Park in Port of Spain, with 124 and 220 runs.
 
West Indian, Lawrence Rowe, provided the visiting New Zealand bowlers with plenty of misery when he belted 214 and a 100 not out against the New Zealanders, in the West Indies, during February 1972.
 
New Zealand fielders could only watch as Aussie legend, Greg Chappell, put their side to the sword with 247 not out and 133 at the Basin Reserve in 1974.
 
Lords, which is widely considered the home of cricket, saw English master blaster Graham Gooch break through the three hundred run barrier - with 333 against India, followed by 123 runs in his second visit to the crease.
 
Other batting legends to reach the highly sought-after mark were Brian Lara (221 & 130), Sri Lankan Kumar Sangakkara (319 & 105) and Aussie Marnus Labuschagne (204 & 104no).
 
Indian, Shubman Gill, who played at the Bay Oval during the Under 19 Cricket World Cup in 2018, preceded Devon Conway's magical two Bay Oval innings, with 269 and 161 against England at Edgbaston in July of 2025.
 
Next up in the big ICC test match milestones set at the Bay Oval, Conway and Latham became the first-ever opening batsmen to blast a century apiece in both innings of a test match.
 
Amongst the other record marks set at the Bay Oval test encounter was that Conway's first innings mark was the third double century smashed at the Western Bay of Plenty ground in just six tests.
 
Conway and Latham joined Black Cap legend Kane Williamson in posting a century in both visits to the batting arena in test match action at the Bay Oval. 

 
But wait, there’s more to come

 

The Black Caps will be joined by the White Ferns to take on their South African counterparts, in frenetic T20 action at the Bay Oval on Sunday, 15th March 2026. The White Ferns will kick off proceedings at 2.45 pm with the Black Caps versus the South Africa Men’s team at 7.50 pm.

 
ICC Test Match at Bay Oval, 18-22 December 2025

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New Zealand 575/8 dec (DP Conway 227, TWM Latham 137, R Ravindra 72) & 306/2 dec (TWM Latham 101, DP Conway 100, R Ravindra 46no, KS Williamson 40no
West Indies 420 (KAR Hodge 123, BA King 63, AS Athanaze 45, JP Greaves 43; JA Duffy 4/86, AY Patel 3/113) & 138 (JA Duffy 5/42, AY Patel 3/23)
Result: New Zealand won by 323 runs

 
ICC Double Century & Century in a Test Match

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242 & 103 | Doug Walter (Australia v West Indies, Sydney Cricket Ground) February 1969
124 & 220  | Sunil Gavaskar (India v West Indies, Queens Park, Port of Spain) April 1971
214 & 100no | Lawrence Rowe (West Indies v NZ, Sabina Park) February 1972
247no & 133 | Greg Chappell (Australia v New Zealand, Basin Reserve) March 1974
333 & 123 | Graham Gooch (England v India, Lords) July 1990
221 & 130 | Brian Lara (West Indies v Sri Lanka, Colombo) November 2001
319 & 105 | Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka v Bangladesh) Chittagong February 2014
204 & 104no | Marnus Labuschagne (Australia v West Indies, Perth) November 2022
269 & 161 | Shubman Gill (India v England – Edgbaston, Birmingham) July 2025
227 & 100 | Devon Conway (NZ v West Indies, Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui) December 2025

 
Bay Oval Test Centuries

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205 | BJ Watling (New Zealand v England) 2019/20
126 | MJ Santner (New Zealand v England) 2019/20
129 | KS Williamson (New Zealand v Pakistan) 2020/21
102 | F Alam (Pakistan v New Zealand) 2020/21
122 | DP Conway (New Zealand v Bangladesh) 2021/22
138 | TA Blundell (New Zealand v England) 22022/23
240 | R Ravindra (New Zealand v South Africa) 2023/24
118 | KS Williamson (New Zealand v South Africa) 2023/24
109 | KS Williamson (New Zealand v South Africa) 2023/24
227 | DP Conway (New Zealand v West Indies) 2025/26
137 | TWM Latham (New Zealand v West Indies) 2025/26
123 | KAR Hodge (West Indies v New Zealand) 2025/26
101 | TWM Latham (New Zealand v West Indies) 2025/26
100 | DP Conway (New Zealand v West Indies) 2025/26

 
March 15, 2026 | ICC T20 International Double Header | NZC v South Africa

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New Zealand White Ferns v South Africa Women - 2.45 pm start
New Zealand Black Caps v South Africa – 7.15 pm start