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Tom Latham becomes fourth New Zealand opener to carry the bat through a completed innings

Latham's unbeaten 264 off 489 balls is the second-highest score by a New Zealand opener.

In elite company: Tom Latham finished 264 not out.

In elite company: Tom Latham finished 264 not out. ©AFP

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Tom Latham on Monday became the fourth New Zealand opener to carry his bat through a completed Test innings, left not out on 264 off 489 balls on day four of the ongoing first Test against Sri Lanka at the Basin Reserve.

Latham’s 264 not out is the second-highest score for New Zealand Test opener, after Bryan Young’s unbeaten 267 scored against Sri Lanka in Dunedin in 1997. In batting his way to this epic double-century, the 26-year-old followed Bert Sutcliffe (230*), Graham Dowling (239), Glenn Turner (259 and 223*), Young (267*) and Brendon McCullum (225 and 202) as the New Zealand Test openers to reach 200.

ALSO READ: Latham records second highest Test score by a New Zealand opener

He is the fourth after Sutcliffe, Turner and Young to carry his bat through a completed Test innings.  The last man Trent Boult was dismissed for 11 of six balls, with Latham stranded on 264.

That ended the home team’s innings on 578, a lead of 296 over Sri Lanka.

NEW ZEALAND OPENERS TO CARRY THEIR BATS:

Player Score Balls Opponents Venue Year
B Young 267* 422 Sri Lanka Dunedin 1997
T Latham 264* 489 Sri Lanka Wellington 2018
B Sutcliffe 230* India Delhi 1955
G Turner 223* West Indies Kingston 1972

Latham ccrossed 250 with a pull shot for two, and in the next over hit Dilruwan Perera for a four and six to move to 263. He added one more run before Boult was dismissed when he mistimed a slog.

Overall, he is the 52nd batsman to record a century while carrying the bat through a completed inning. Sri Lanka’s Dimuth Karunaratne was the last, when he made 158* out of a Sri Lankan total of 287 against South Africa in July.

By stumps, Sri Lanka had slipped to 20/3 to trail New Zealand by 276 runs.

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