Latham double ton puts NZ in control
Tom Latham put any questions about his future in the New Zealand cricket team to bed with a maiden double century as he effectively batted Sri Lanka out of the first test on the third day at the Basin Reserve on Monday.
Latham finished 264 not out -- a world's best for an opener carrying their bat through a completed innings -- as New Zealand were bowled out for 578, and holding a 296-run first innings lead, about an hour before stumps on the third day.
Tom Southee and Trent Boult then reduced the visitors to 20 for three at stumps, with Kusal Mendis, who is on five, and Angelo Mathews (two) to return on Tuesday to see if they can avoid an innings loss inside four days.
Despite the pace bowling fireworks towards the end of play, the third day belonged to the 26-year-old Latham.
The left-hander was concentration personified as he built on the century he completed on the Sunday and brought up his double with a controlled push into the leg side for a single.
He immediately broke into a grin as he trotted through to complete the run and become the 15th New Zealand batsman to score a test double century and first since Ross Taylor scored 290 against Australia in Perth in November, 2015.
His score is the sixth-highest for New Zealand, with Brendon McCullum's 302, on the same ground against India in 2014, still the benchmark.
It was a welcome return for Latham, whose place in the side while probably not under serious threat, had begun to be questioned after a lean run of form.
Since his last century of 177 against Bangladesh in early 2017 he has scored a total of 488 runs in 19 innings at an average of 27.11, almost 10 runs lower than his career average.
In that period he passed 50 just four times.
Latham played the anchor role to a fluent Kane Williamson on Sunday and continued to accumulate on Monday as the rest of the lineup took a more aggressive approach.
Only BJ Watling from the top seven failed to get going on a placid pitch, with Taylor and Henry Nicholls both scoring 50, while Colin de Grandhomme hit three fours and three sixes in his 49.
Dec 17 (OPTA) - Scoreboard at stumps on the third day of 1st test between New Zealand and Sri Lanka on Sunday at Wellington, New Zealand
Sri Lanka trail New Zealand by 276 runs with 7 wickets remaining
Sri Lanka 1st innings
Danushka Gunathilaka lbw Tim Southee 1
Dimuth Karunaratne c BJ Watling b Neil Wagner 79
Dhananjaya de Silva c BJ Watling b Tim Southee 1
Kusal Mendis c Ajaz Patel b Tim Southee 2
Angelo Mathews c BJ Watling b Tim Southee 83
Dinesh Chandimal c Ajaz Patel b Tim Southee 6
Niroshan Dickwella Not Out 80
Dilruwan Perera c BJ Watling b Colin de Grandhomme 16
Suranga Lakmal c Henry Nicholls b Neil Wagner 3
Kasun Rajitha c BJ Watling b Trent Boult 2
Lahiru Kumara c Colin de Grandhomme b Tim Southee 0
Extras 0b 7lb 2nb 0pen 0w 9
Total (90.0 overs) 282 all out
Fall of Wickets : 1-5 Gunathilaka, 2-7 de Silva, 3-9 Mendis, 4-142 Karunaratne, 5-167 Chandimal, 6-187 Mathews, 7-223 Perera, 8-240 Lakmal, 9-275 Rajitha, 10-282 Kumara
Bowling Ov Md Rn Wk Econ Ex
Trent Boult 27 6 83 1 3.07
Tim Southee 27 7 68 6 2.52
Colin de Grandhomme 13 2 35 1 2.69 1nb
Neil Wagner 20 2 75 2 3.75 1nb
Ajaz Patel 3 0 14 0 4.67
........................................................................
New Zealand 1st innings
Jeet Raval c Niroshan Dickwella b Lahiru Kumara 43
Tom Latham Not Out 264
Kane Williamson c Kasun Rajitha b Dhananjaya de Silva 91
Ross Taylor c Dimuth Karunaratne b Lahiru Kumara 50
Henry Nicholls c Kasun Rajitha b Dilruwan Perera 50
BJ Watling c Niroshan Dickwella b Lahiru Kumara 0
Colin de Grandhomme c Kasun Rajitha b Dhananjaya de Silva 49
Tim Southee Run Out Dinesh Chandimal 6
Neil Wagner c Dhananjaya de Silva b Suranga Lakmal 0
Ajaz Patel b Dilruwan Perera 6
Trent Boult c Niroshan Dickwella b Lahiru Kumara 11
Extras 0b 5lb 2nb 0pen 1w 8
Total (157.3 overs) 578 all out
Fall of Wickets : 1-59 Raval, 2-221 Williamson, 3-312 Taylor, 4-426 Nicholls, 5-426 Watling, 6-499 de Grandhomme, 7-520 Southee, 8-520 Wagner, 9-549 Patel, 10-578 Boult
Bowling Ov Md Rn Wk Econ Ex
Suranga Lakmal 31 6 88 1 2.84 1nb
Kasun Rajitha 34 5 144 0 4.24 1w 1nb
Angelo Mathews 4 3 1 0 0.25
Dilruwan Perera 40 1 156 2 3.90
Lahiru Kumara 31.3 2 127 4 4.03
Dhananjaya de Silva 15 0 54 2 3.60
Danushka Gunathilaka 2 1 3 0 1.50
.......................................................
Sri Lanka 2nd innings
Danushka Gunathilaka lbw Trent Boult 3
Dimuth Karunaratne c Trent Boult b Tim Southee 10
Dhananjaya de Silva b Tim Southee 0
Kusal Mendis Not Out 5
Angelo Mathews Not Out 2
Extras 0b 0lb 0nb 0pen 0w 0
Total (12.0 overs) 20-3
Fall of Wickets : 1-5 Gunathilaka, 2-10 de Silva, 3-13 Karunaratne
To Bat : Chandimal, Dickwella, Perera, Lakmal, Rajitha, Kumara
Bowling Ov Md Rn Wk Econ Ex
Tim Southee 5 3 7 2 1.40
Trent Boult 6 0 12 1 2.00
Neil Wagner 1 0 1 0 1.00
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Umpire Michael Gough
Umpire Rodney Tucker
Video Richard Illingworth
Match Referee Richard Richardson