Will Young Joins Elite List of New Zealand Openers Against India
For years, the story of New Zealand openers dominating India in ODIs has really been a two-man tale: Devon Conway in the modern era and Nathan Astle from a different generation entirely. In Mount Maunganui, that script changed.
Will Young has forced his name into that conversation with a commanding 125 off 108 balls in the fourth ODI at Bay Oval in 2026, the second-highest score ever by a New Zealand opener against India.
Conway still king
The benchmark remains brutal. Devon Conway’s 138 at Indore in 2023 is still the gold standard for New Zealand openers against India.
On a flat Holkar Stadium surface on January 24, 2023, Conway dismantled India’s attack with 138 from just 100 balls, lacing 12 fours and launching eight sixes. It was an innings built on timing and audacity, the kind that usually decides a series.
India had other ideas. Despite Conway’s fireworks, New Zealand lost by 90 runs, and India sealed a 3-0 sweep. The record stayed with Conway, but the match slipped away.
Young’s statement at the Bay
Fast forward to November 13, 2026. Different ground, different series, same opponent.
Opening for New Zealand in the fourth ODI at Mount Maunganui, Will Young walked out with a clear brief and delivered a landmark innings of his own. His 125 not only anchored the New Zealand effort, it also carried him past a cluster of famous names into outright second on the all-time list for Kiwi openers against India.
Until that day, the upper reaches of the chart had been a private playground for Conway and Nathan Astle. Young barged in, becoming the latest New Zealand batter to cross 120 against India at the top of the order and giving the current five-match series a fresh narrative thread.
Astle’s long shadow
To understand the weight of that achievement, you have to go back to Nathan Astle, the man who appears three times in the top five.
In Rajkot in 1999, Astle hammered 120 in the first ODI on November 5. He faced 136 balls, struck 12 fours and two sixes, and drove New Zealand to 349. India couldn’t keep up; New Zealand won by 43 runs. It felt like a statement that the Black Caps’ openers could bully India on their own turf.
Two years later in Colombo, Astle was at it again. In the Coca-Cola Cup at R. Premadasa Stadium on July 20, 2001, he ground out 117 from 150 balls, built on nine fours and a six. It was less about fireworks and more about control. New Zealand won that game by 84 runs, and Astle tightened his grip on India as a recurring problem they couldn’t quite solve.
Then came Harare in 2005. Different continent, same tormentor. On September 6 at Harare Sports Club, Astle crafted an unbeaten 115 from 131 balls in a chase of 277. New Zealand got home with six wickets in hand and 11 balls to spare. Calm, ruthless, clinical. Another century against India, another entry on a list that for a long time looked like his personal archive.
A record book with a new voice
For now, Conway’s 138 in Indore still stands alone at the top:
- 138 – Devon Conway, Indore, 2023
- 125 – Will Young, Mount Maunganui, 2026
- 120 – Nathan Astle, Rajkot, 1999
- 117 – Nathan Astle, Colombo, 2001
- 115* – Nathan Astle, Harare, 2005
Five innings, five venues: Indore, Mount Maunganui, Rajkot, Colombo, Harare. Three different eras of New Zealand batting, one constant theme – their openers have repeatedly found a way to hurt India.
Conway owns the record. Astle’s legacy runs through three separate countries. Now Young has carved his own space among them.
The question is no longer whether New Zealand can produce openers to trouble India. It’s which of this new generation will be next to rewrite that list.
