Twitter Reactions: Tom Latham, Devon Conway smother Bangladesh at the Hagley Oval

After the loss in Mount Maunganui, New Zealand came out with a lot of intent in the second Test against Bangladesh at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch. At the close of play on Day one, the hosts amassed 349 for the loss of one wicket. With skipper Tom Latham racking up his 12th Test ton and Devon Conway on the threshold of a century, the home has got things running in the all-important encounter.

Latham, Young start off handsomely

After being put in to bat first, the Kiwis didn’t allow the Bangladesh bowlers to carry on from where they left off at Bay Oval. Latham didn’t have the best of outings in the first Test, but the stand-in skipper well and truly made amends. He, along with Will Young, put on 148 runs for the opening wicket off 38 overs. Latham was the more attacking off the two and he got to his fifty off 65 balls.

Young got a reprieve in the 26th over after Liton Das dropped him at second slip. Ebadot Hossain, the Player of the Match from the first game, produced the chance, but to no avail. Adding insult to injury, the delivery produced seven runs after an overthrow resulted in a boundary. Young made the Tigers pay as he racked up a half-century off 98 balls with the help of five glorious boundaries.

Latham, Conway keep Bangladesh at bay

Shoriful Islam gave the Tigers their first breakthrough, getting rid of Young for 54. From there on, Conway joined hands with Latham and piled on more misery for Bangladesh. Latham didn’t take his foot off the pedal and notched his ton off 133 balls. Although he slowed down a bit later on, his unbeaten 186-run knock at a strike rate of 66.90 has put New Zealand in a commanding position.

Latham smashed as many as 28 fours during his stay in the middle in the first day. Conway, in the meantime, scored a ton in the first Test and he didn’t flatter to deceive even in the second. The southpaw stayed not out on 99 off 148 with 10 fours and a six. As far as the Tigers are concerned, they need to separate the duo at the earliest to have any chance of staging a comeback.

Here’s how the netizens to the day’s play in Christchurch

What an answer so far from the @BLACKCAPS @Tomlatham2 #conway #young impressive stuff.

— Mitchell McClenaghan (@Mitch_Savage) January 9, 2022

Good to see Bangladesh sportsmanship to bowl first giving Ross Taylor the best opportunity to play a big innings in his last test. Conway, Young & Latham have missed the memo though. Tough day in the field for the @BCBtigers #NZvBANG #Cricket

— Brad Hogg (@Brad_Hogg) January 9, 2022

New Zealand was on fire today. #NZvBAN

— NapStar Da GhettoKid (@Oct7Libra) January 9, 2022

Frustrating day.#NZvBAN

— Nasreen🧕🇧🇩 (@NA__SR__EEN3) January 9, 2022

Stat: No player in Test history, who ended the day unbeaten on 99, has ever failed to score a Test hundred in that inns. Devon Conway will look to score his third century in the format tomorrow. #NZvBAN

— Farid Khan (@_FaridKhan) January 9, 2022

Possibly the most perfectly chaotic ball ever. Dropped catch, poor running, no communication ever, run out chance, overthrows, desperate dive at the end and 7 runs for a shot that should’ve have resulted in a wicket. What a great sport #NZvBAN https://t.co/TCEdcCPToa

— Alex Duffell (@alex_duffell) January 9, 2022

Back to a harsh reality…#NZvBAN https://t.co/jLah5LuGHo

— Lincoln (@FPLBeggzySC) January 9, 2022

Kiwi batsmen today 🤭 #BANvsNZ #NZvBAN pic.twitter.com/83mZ6rEdBJ

— Turd (@DaPutun) January 9, 2022

Devon Conway's.
Test Career so far – 613 Runs, 76.62 Avg. 3 (50s) 2 💯 Exceptional.

#NZvBAN #WTC #CricketTwitter

— RAB NAWAZ 🇵🇰 (@RN31888) January 9, 2022

Not seen a 600+ score for many years let this be COME ON KIWIS! #NZvBAN

— Aman Kumar (@AmanKum55316908) January 9, 2022

Let’s give Rosco a well deserved send off.. @BLACKCAPS #NZvBAN #myHero #ourHero https://t.co/Twao9LsGpV

— driftw00d (@driftw00d) January 9, 2022