“Devon Conway played a lovely innings, in which he let the bowlers come to him” - Nasser Hussain

Nasser Hussain has hailed New Zealand opener Devon Conway for scoring a splendid hundred on his Test debut against England on Day 1 of the first Test at Lord’s.

Devon Conway remained unbeaten on 136 off 240 balls as New Zealand ended the opening day at 246 for 3. The Kiwi left-hander looked in complete control during his stay out in the middle, hitting 16 fours. He featured in an unbroken stand of 132 with Henry Nicholls (46*) to help New Zealand recover from 114-3.

In his column for Daily Mail, Hussain wrote about Conway’s debut Test hundred, stating the 29-year-old played a 'lovely' innings.

“Devon Conway played a lovely innings, in which he let the bowlers come to him, and batted on his Test debut as if to the manner born. And England’s bowlers put in a challenging shift on a difficult surface… In Conway, they had just the player to make good use of a nice batting strip,” Hussain wrote.

"Now you know you what it's like bro!" A great @HomeOfCricket Honours Board story from Devon Conway #ENGvNZ pic.twitter.com/mZgGMv2yRF

— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) June 2, 2021

The former England skipper added that he was particularly impressed with the manner in which Devon Conway stuck it out during a probing spell by Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad after lunch.

“The tourists’ coach, Gary Stead, has spoken about picking on character, and somehow New Zealand just find a way of producing these tough cricketers. He had a nice rhythm to his batting, and he wasn’t afraid to suck up a tough spell when Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad were making it swing after lunch. We’ve seen all around the world in recent years how openers have struggled against the new ball, but Conway looked a natural. I spoke to the New Zealand commentator Simon Doull about him before play, and he just said ‘we’ve got another one in the mould of Kane Williamson – he bats long and he bats time. Conway bats on middle stump, has a fluency to his game, and plays beside the ball, which opens up different scoring areas,” Hussain added.

Hussain also stressed on the fact that batsmen need to adjust their technique when the ball is moving around and Devon Conway did that well.

“There is a lot to be said for leaving it (the ball) when necessary and letting the bowler come to you. That’s what Conway did so well here,” Hussain wrote.

Devon Conway breaks Sourav Ganguly's record

💯 Welcome to the Honours Boards, Devon Conway ✍️👏 A sublime innings from the @BLACKCAPS opener, who becomes the sixth player to hit a Test century on debut at Lord's.#LoveLords pic.twitter.com/v5TvmEEU8i

— Lord's Cricket Ground (@HomeOfCricket) June 2, 2021

Following his unbeaten 136, Devon Conway broke former India captain and current BCCI President Sourav Ganguly's record for the highest score by a debutant at Lord’s. Ganguly had scored 131 on his Test debut at the iconic ground back in 1996.

Devon Conway’s 136 is also the highest score by a Kiwi debutant while playing outside New Zealand. The southpaw broke skipper Kane Williamson’s record, who had smashed 131 on his Test debut against India in Ahmedabad.

Before making his Test debut on Wednesday, the 29-year-old had featured in three ODIs and 14 T20Is.

ACCESS ALL ANGLES | What’s your favourite of Devon Conway’s century-making flick for FOUR? 🎥➡ #ENGvNZ Day 2 LIVE & EXCLUSIVE on Spark Sport from 9:15pm 🏏⭕️➡️ @BLACKCAPS Breakfast 7am each morning 🍳☕️ pic.twitter.com/0FRtzI9z8G

— Spark Sport (@sparknzsport) June 3, 2021

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