"It wasn't a conscious effort to try and target that over" - Tom Latham on his assault on Shardul Thakur

Tom Latham has said that there was no pre-meditated plan to target Shardul Thakur in the 40th over of New Zealand's innings in the first ODI against India.

The Men in Blue set a challenging 307-run target for the Kiwis in Auckland on Friday, November 25. Latham smashed an unbeaten 145 off just 104 balls and strung together an unbroken 221-run fourth-wicket partnership with Kane Williamson to help the hosts register an easy seven-wicket win with almost three overs to spare.

During a post-match interview on Prime Video, Latham was asked about his assault on Thakur. He replied:

"I was just sort of reacting to what was being bowled. It wasn't a conscious effort to try and target that over. I was just trying to use the pace and try and hit those shorter boundaries, just trying to react early and it certainly paid off."

The southpaw was further asked if he was seeing the ball as big as a football, to which he responded:

"I guess just one of those days where the stars aligned, the shots that you play tend to go in the gaps where you want them to go. I guess it was about trying to get into strong positions. Sometimes that's when I play my best is just reacting rather than pre-meditating and tonight was just one of those nights."

Latham smoked 19 fours and five sixes during his innings. He clubbed four fours and a six off the 40th over bowled by Thakur, which all but ended India's slim hopes of making a comeback in the game.

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"Definitely don't think he will worry about that" - Tom Latham on him not letting Williamson score a hundred

Kane Williamson scored an unbeaten 94 off 98 balls.

On a lighter note, Latham was asked if he thought Williamson might be upset with him for having denied his skipper a century. He replied:

"Definitely don't think he will worry about that. I am not really too sure where that came from. Obviously being in that position, I think we were 80-odd for three when I came in to bat."

The wicketkeeper-batter added that the peculiar Eden Park dimensions helped their cause. He stated:

"It was about just absorbing a little bit of pressure and seeing if we are able to take it deep on a ground with some unique dimensions. You can score quite quickly, so we managed to build a decent partnership and got across the line, which is nice."

Latham joined Williamson in the middle at the fall of Daryl Mitchell's wicket, with the Black Caps in a spot of bother at 88/3 after 19.5 overs. The former played the aggressor's role to perfection, with the Kiwi skipper content in playing second fiddle to him.