Tom Latham and Henry Nicholls extend New Zealand’s dominance

 
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Lunch New Zealand 403 for 3 (Latham 168*, Nicholls 45*, Kumara 2-110) lead Sri Lanka 282 by 121 runs

Three New Zealand batsmen have scored double-hundreds against Sri Lanka at the Basin Reserve, and Tom Latham could soon become the fourth, joining Martin Crowe, Lou Vincent and Kane Williamson. By lunch on day three, Latham had added 47 runs to his overnight 121, and looked set to add plenty more.

He had put on an unbroken 91 with Henry Nicholls for the fourth wicket – every partnership of this innings has passed the 50 mark – to continue denying Sri Lanka the quick wickets they crave so much, and extend New Zealand’s lead to an imposing 121.

The morning began brilliantly for the visitors, with Dimuth Karunaratne’s stunning reflex catch at short leg sending back Ross Taylor in the first over of the day, fast hands somehow intercepting a full-blooded flick near his left shoulder.

That, though, would be Sri Lanka’s only success of the session, as Latham and Nicholls settled in calmly on a pitch that had flattened out considerably since the first morning. The only moments of anything approaching panic came when the unflagging Lahiru Kumara found the edges of both batsmen – Latham first, then Nicholls – with his extra bounce in his second spell of the day. The match situation, however, limited the number of catchers Sri Lanka could employ behind the wicket. The first edge flew through the vacant gully region, which prompted Dinesh Chandimal to move his second slip there, and the second edge promptly shot through the newly created gap.

Latham, certainly, had earned the right not to have an extra man in the cordon. He was batting on 136 when he played that uncharacteristic jab away from his body, and until then had shown no inkling that he’d ever play such a shot. Just before Kumara returned to the attack, he had frustrated Suranga Lakmal with his impeccably judged leaves outside off stump, ignoring balls even on a fourth-stump line, even when they were angled into him from round the wicket.

This didn’t mean Latham didn’t pounce when the quicks oerpitched, even marginally. His driving – always meeting the ball right under his eyes, with a punchy, full-faced finish – was a feature of the morning’s play, particularly to the right of mid-off. He kept finding that gap with such regularity that Sri Lanka eventually stationed their extra-cover straighter, almost as an auxiliary mid-off.

At the other end, Nicholls carried on the form he had shown during his triumphant tour of the UAE, chugging along at a 60-plus strike rate and looking Latham’s equal at driving off the front foot. His favoured area, however, was straight back past the bowler – three of his boundaries came in that direction, two off the quicks and one after a foray down the wicket to Dilruwan Perera’s offspin. There was also a withering pull shot off Kumara – a strong roll of the wrists ensuring the ball stayed down despite being met above shoulder height – to dissuade Sri Lanka from too many further attempts at short-pitched bowling.

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