Cricket: Devon Conway and Black Caps top order under pressure in second test against England

Devon Conway was the only top-order batsman to contribute in the first test. Photo / photosport.nz

The Black Caps can’t match what England do with the bat, but Devon Conway knows that nor should they try.

New Zealand’s top order will head into the second test, starting on Friday at the Basin Reserve, feeling pressure to emulate the match-winning contributions made by the tourists’ free-swinging batsmen at Bay Oval.

England’s top five added 446 runs during last week’s first-test victory; the Black Caps’ managed 169.

But Conway, whose 77 in the first innings was the only knock of note, believes it’s not about matching the opposition - the home side, in fact, must adopt the opposite approach.

England’s batsmen were in the middle at Mount Maunganui for a good time, not a long one, and scored at 5.3 runs an over throughout the match. And while Conway insists his side play positively in their own way, he thinks the contrast between speed and duration is where the Black Caps can excel.

“We do play a positive brand of cricket, but probably not as flamboyant as some of the English batters,” he said. “We just try and stick to what we do best.

“Certainly we can bat longer periods. We can grind them for longer in the field, not give them easy options like we did in that first test.

“Some of us got in and then got out - myself in particular got to 77 and then got out. If we’re going to make significant marks on the game, we’ve got to take those opportunities to cash in and make big scores.

“If we can do that in the second test, I’ve no doubt that the result will change.”

Watch the Black Caps v England 2nd test live on Spark Sport

The opening result turned unseemly on Sunday, when the top-order woes translated to a 267-run loss, leaving the Black Caps facing their first home series defeat since 2017.

Conway identified the tumbling wickets in the new-ball period as the pivotal factor from a batting perspective, with that failure leading to a scarcity in valuable partnerships.

The highest the hosts managed in the first half of their two innings was the 51 runs Conway put on with nightwatchman Neil Wagner on the second day, exceeded later that afternoon by the team’s eighth- and 10th-wicket stands.

“We didn’t do the goods with the bat, especially in the top order. We didn’t manage to get through that new-ball period,” Conway said.

“We didn’t have many significant partnerships in the middle. That’s one thing we always pride ourselves on – batting well in pairs out there and really taking the bowlers down in the later part of the innings.”

England’s bowlers made their opponents’ lives difficult with a simple approach of patience and control in the pink-ball test - given an assist by taking the ball on two of the three nights.

Those examinations under lights won’t be an issue in the rematch, another pleasing part of returning to a venue where the Black Caps have won three of their last five tests by an innings and a fourth by 10 wickets.

Conway, set to play his first test at the Basin following a five-year domestic career with Wellington, is expecting a typically green wicket but one that generally also offers enough to the batsmen.

New Zealand will likely make only one change for the series decider, with new dad Matt Henry set to replace either Blair Tickner or Scott Kuggeleijn, while England are unsurprisingly unchanged and again promising the unexpected.

“Their batting makes them really unpredictable,” Conway said. “We can’t really match what they do with their bats; that’s not the way we play. What we can do is control what makes us good - and just hope it’s good enough.”