“Those are the ones where you want to kick on and make the most of it. Spin on day one is probably not the most ideal way to get out.”
The opener must at least have been consoled by helping his side start well in their quest for a third straight test win.
Today brought slightly less excitement than the climactic stages of the second match in that mini-streak, as the Wellington weather provided quite a comedown from Kane Williamson’s final-ball heroics at Hagley Oval on Monday.
It began with rain, featured what Conway called the strongest wind he had experienced at the Basin, and ended through bad light.
“I looked at a couple of their bowlers’ faces and they were indicating it was very hard to run in,” Conway said. “It was a bit of a challenge for them, and we took note of that as batters and tried to put them under as much pressure as we could.”
That objective started after a three-hour delay, with Doug Bracewell replacing the injured Neil Wagner in New Zealand’s sole change.
Sri Lanka’s toss success would have left them hopeful of exploiting another green seamer but, in the first session especially, their bowlers battled to find a good length while being buffeted by the wind.
Conway, in turn, feasted on anything short or full, unleashing a diverse array of pulls, cuts and drives that all reaped the same result.
“It wasn’t too bad for the batters,” he said. “It was nice to get a couple of bad balls and put them away to put the bowlers under pressure.”
The 31-year-old quickly registered his eighth test half-century — the last 40 of those runs coming from 43 balls — and seized any advantage Sri Lanka had desired when they inserted their hosts.
Latham was less fluid at the other end, offering the first chance of the innings with an ill-judged attempt at a quick single, left lucky the fielder was unable to collect cleanly. And his attempts to execute the pull didn’t work out as well as his partner’s, holing out to deep square for 21.
Unperturbed, Conway continued to drive with refinement, collecting 12 boundaries in the session and heading to tea unbeaten on 73.
He initially seemed ready to march on following the break but, one flicked four later, was caught by the bowler for the second time in two innings. Unlike in Christchurch, where Conway assumed full responsibility, on this occasion he was undone by a good catch from de Silva, although the bowler had been asking few probing questions.
Fortunately for Henry Nicholls, that piece of sharp fielding didn’t prove contagious, as his poor attempt to cut was dropped by debutant wicketkeeper Nishan Madushka.
Nicholls and Williamson — two batsmen at differing ends of the form spectrum — will resume tomorrow with a stand of 37. Weather permitting.
