Tom Latham is not a batsman who does things by half. Even by the standards of New Zealand's under-appreciated line-up, he tends to slip below the radar, but in racking up his fifth Test century in the space of ten Test innings, he has achieved a feat that no other Kiwi has ever before managed, reports ESPN.
And it was on his watch that England's tricky tour of New Zealand's took another turn for the problematic. Not least because this innings already promises to be a further slog for England's attack. In spite of the pitch's fuzzy appearance, barely a ball deviated from the straight and narrow all day, and England were reliant on discipline - from Woakes first and foremost - to keep themselves in contention. It was a trait that Latham in particular was more than willing to display for his countrymen in return.
Beyond those flickers of fallibility, however, Latham's innings was built on a pinpoint recognition of his scoring opportunities, as he presented the straightest of blades to anything remotely stump-threatening, while cashing in whenever the opportunity arose. Sam Curran, in particular, strayed repeatedly onto his toes in search of that elusive swing. Latham reached his first fifty in 87 balls, then galloped down the track in the final over before tea, to meet Root on the full and bring up his century with a whistling drive through long-on.
