England vs New Zealand: Black Caps’ Devon Conway joins elite club after smashing 200 on Test debut

London: New Zealand’s Devon Conway became just the seventh batsman in Test cricket’s 144-year history to make a double century on debut with a score of exactly 200 against England at Lord’s on Thursday. The South Africa-born opener’s marathon effort of more than nine-and-a-half hours was the cornerstone of New Zealand’s first-innings total of 378. Conway was in sight of becoming the first player to bat throughout their very first Test-match innings. But with only last man Neil Wagner for company, he was run out after lunch on the second day of this two-match series, having faced 347 balls, including 22 fours. [caption id=“attachment_9682511” align=“alignnone” width=“640”]  New Zealand opener Devon Conway raises his bat after bringing up his double hundred on Test debut. AP[/caption] But he had still joined an exclusive club, with Mathew Sinclair the only other New Zealand batsman to have made a double century on his Test bow. Left-hander Conway had already broken the record for the highest innings by a batsman making their career Test debut at Lord’s when, on Wednesday, he surpassed the 131 made by India’s Souray Ganguly in 1996. Conway’s innings, which ensured a place on the famed dressing room honours board at the ‘home of cricket’, was also the second highest by a New Zealand batsman in a Test at Lord’s behind Martin Donnelly’s 206 in 1949. Double hundreds on Test debut (score, batsman, team, opponent, venue, season): — 287 Reginald Foster ENG v AUS Sydney 1903/04 — 222 no Jacques Rudolph RSA v BAN Chittagong 2002/03 — 214 Lawrence Rowe WIS v NZL Kingston 1971/72 — 214 Mathew Sinclair NZL v WIS Wellington 1999/00 — 210 no Kyle Mayers WIS v BAN Chattogram 2020/21 — 201 no Brendon Kuruppu SRI v NZL Colombo CCC 1986/87 — 200 Devon Conway NZL v ENG Lord’s 2021 Test debut hundred at Lord’s (total, team, opposition, season): — 200 Devon Conway NZL v ENG 2021 — 131 Sourav Ganguly IND v ENG 1996 — 126 no Matt Prior ENG v WIS 2007 — 112 Andrew Strauss ENG v NZL 2004 — 107 Harry Graham AUS v ENG 1893 — 107 John Hampshire ENG v WIS 1969 Highest scores by a New Zealand batsman in a Test at Lord’s (total, player, season) — England the opposition in all cases: — 206 Martin Donnelly 1949 — 200 Devon Conway 2021 — 175 Bevan Congdon 1973 — 142 Martin Crowe 1994 — 132 Kane Williamson 2015 — 123 Geoff Howarth 1978 — 120 Stewie Dempster 1931 — 106 Martin Crowe 1986