MOUNT MAUNGANUI, New Zealand (AP) — Tom Latham took a close look at the pitch at Bay Oval Thursday and made the inspired decision to bat first.
Inspired ultimately because at stumps New Zealand was 334-1 against West Indies, Devon Conway was 178 not out and nightwatchman Jacob Duffy was 9.
Latham and Conway put on 323 for New Zealand's first wicket in a partnership that ended just three overs from stumps when Latham was out for 137. The partnership was New Zealand's second-highest opening stand in tests and the highest for all wickets and all teams in 2025.
Latham faced 245 balls before falling to a slip catch shortly after the arrival of the second new ball. Conway faced 279 deliveries, batted throughout the day and at stumps was approaching his highest test score — his 200 on debut against England in 2021.
Latham's decision to bat first was bold because the pitch was unusually green for Bay Oval. Bold because he had to back his play, pad up and bat first.
Inspired also because the pitch's appearance was deceptive. It was much drier under its carpet of grass than it outwardly appeared. West Indies had planned to bowl first, anyway.
“I guess we left the decision about what we were going to do a bit longer than we usually do,” Latham said. "We were going back and forth and we obviously ended up going with a spinner and decided to bat first.
“It was obviously a great day, a great partnership between Dev and myself and I'm obviously happy with the day's work.”
New Zealand captains don't usually choose to bat first after winning the toss in tests at home. The last time, before Latham took that gamble Thursday, was 14 years ago in January, 2011 when Daniel Vettori chose to bat against Pakistan at the Basin Reserve. Vettori made 110 in the first innings of that match as the gamble paid off for the captain on that occasion as well.
The last time both openers scored centuries in a test for New Zealand was in 2019 when Latham made 161 and Jeet Raval 132 against Bangladesh in Hamilton. That was an opening stand of 200 or more, of which there have been only six for New Zealand. Latham has been part of two.
At 277, Thursday's partnership between Latham and Conway became the second highest for the first wicket for New Zealand, overtaking the 276 between Stu Dempster and Jackie Mills against England at Wellington in 1930.
At 304, it became the highest partnership for any test wicket in this calendar year.
The pitch wasn't lifeless Thursday. There was seam movement early and bounce for most of the day. Kemar Roach and Jayden Seales discharged their opening spells with the new ball cheaply: Roach conceded 12 runs from six overs and Seales 10 runs from five overs.
But West Indies made the decision to select an extra batter — Alick Athanaze — at the expense of a bowler and as the New Zealand openers batted on and on, the toll on the attack of three seamers, one allrounder and one spinner became intense.
The West Indies bowled good balls throughout the day — Latham was dropped on 104 by wicketkeeper Tevin Imlach off Anderson Phillips — but there were not enough good balls in succession to create pressure.
Conway's century came from 147 balls and included 17 boundaries. It was the sixth century of his career, the second in his last six innings but only the third in his last 39 innings.
Latham batted with immense patience to reach his 15th test century, his second of the series, from 183 balls with nine fours and a six.
New Zealand leads the three-match series 1-0 after the first test was drawn and the Black Caps won the second by nine wickets.
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New Zealand's Tom Latham bats against the West Indies on day 3 during their cricket test match in Christchurch, New Zealand, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025. (Andrew Cornaga/Photosport via AP)
ADELAIDE, Australia (AP) — Nathan Lyon took two wickets to move past Glenn McGrath for second place on Australia’s all-time bowling list, and returning skipper Pat Cummins took his first wickets of the series as a relentless bowling attack kept England in trouble in the third Ashes test.
Australia resumed Day 2 at 326-8 and was all out for 371 with Mitchell Starc posting a half-century before Jofra Archer finished off the tailenders to return 5-53, his fourth five-wicket haul in test cricket.
By stumps, England had struggled to 213 for eight, still 158 behind.
England was coasting at 37-0 in reply until Cummins struck. Lyon then took two wickets in his first over as England lost three wickets in 15 balls.
It was a struggle the rest of the day for England, which needs to bat long to revive its chances in this five-test series on a pitch and conditions that traditionally favor batting on Day 2 at the Adelaide Oval.
Compounding that, the Australian bowlers and fielders spent most of the day in the field in temperatures hitting 40C (104F).
Skipper Ben Stokes had to endure the heat to lift his lineup, appearing to struggle with cramping after four hours at the crease. His mood wasn't helped by more contentions outcomes from the Decision Review System technology.
But his stubborn, unbeaten 45 from 151 balls and his unbroken 45-run stand with No. 10 Archer (30) helped England survive the last 13 overs Thursday.
Cummins missed the eight-wicket wins in Perth and Brisbane, which gave Australia a 2-0 series lead, while he recovered from a back injury. In his first spell back, he dismissed opener Zak Crawley (9) to trigger a top-order slide.
Lyon was introduced for the 10th over and the 38-year-old offspinner had immediate success with two wickets in four balls to remove Ollie Pope (3) and Ben Duckett (29) as England slumped to 42-3.
He had Pope caught by a diving Josh Inglis at midwicket to equal retired paceman McGrath's career haul of 563 test wickets.
On the last ball of that over, Lyon enticed Duckett to play the wrong line to a drifting delivery that took out off stump. TV coverage showed McGrath in a stadium commentary booth pretending to throw a chair around in mock annoyance.
Only the great Shane Warne — with 708 wickets in 145 tests from 1992-2007 — is above Lyon on the Australia's list of test wicket-takers.
It was a huge return for Lyon, who only bowled two overs in Perth and was omitted from the lineup that won the second test in Brisbane.
He bowled 22 overs across Day 2 and returned 2-51. Cummins had 3-54, Scott Boland returned 2-31. Starc, the leading wicket-taker in the series, had 0-54 from 12 overs.
England needs victory in Adelaide to have any chance of reclaiming the Ashes, and is relying on a big performance from Stokes to achieve it.
He weathered all kinds of pressure after going to the crease at 71-4 just after the lunch interval when Cummins dismissed Joe Root. Stokes was hit on the side of the helmet as he tried to turn his head away from a short-pitch ball from Starc that was traveling at 145 kph (90 mph). A thick inside edge onto his thigh had him hopping around on 41, too, just before the end of play.
Cameron Green struck on his third delivery to end a 56-run fifth-wicket stand, getting the edge of Harry Brook’s bat with a ball that moved away from the right-hander.
Brook scored 45 from 63 before he was out in the 37th over, adding just one run after getting a reprieve when he was given out caught behind off Lyon's bowling but successfully reviewed the decision with the TV umpire.
There were more dramas with the DRS technology, on top of the contentious review on Wednesday that gave Australia's Alex Carey a reprieve on 72 on the way to his first Ashes century.
Jamie Smith was on 16 when he appeared to glove a catch to Usman Khawaja in the slips. On-field umpires referred the catch to the TV umpire, who ruled it didn’t hit the glove or the bat before hitting the helmet and ricocheting to slips. The Australians were in disbelief. One of the players said the “snicko needs to be sacked.”
A call went against England when Cummins got a slight edge from the toe end of Smith's bat as it carried to Carey. The on-field umpire gave it out, confirmed by the TV umpire despite a seemingly indecisive spike as the ball went past the bat.
AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
Australia's Nathan Lyon, left, celebrates with teammate Mitchell Starc after dismissing England's Ben Duckett during play on day two of the third Ashes cricket test between England and Australia in Adelaide, Australia, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/James Elsby)
Australia's Nathan Lyon, left, celebrates with teammate Mitchell Starc after dismissing England's Ben Duckett during play on day two of the third Ashes cricket test between England and Australia in Adelaide, Australia, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/James Elsby)
Australia's Mitchell Starc bats during play on day two of the third Ashes cricket test between England and Australia in Adelaide, Australia, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/James Elsby)
England's Jofra Archer, centre, is congratulated by teammates after taking five wickets during play on day two of the third Ashes cricket test between England and Australia in Adelaide, Australia, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/James Elsby)
England's Jofra Archer bowls a delivery during play on day one of the third Ashes cricket test between England and Australia at the Adelaide Oval in Adelaide, Australia, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/James Elsby)
England's Jofra Archer reacts after taking five wickets during play on day two of the third Ashes cricket test between England and Australia in Adelaide, Australia, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/James Elsby)
