Tom Latham draws praise after second successive century

New Zealand batsman Martin Guptill was full of praise for his opening partner Tom Latham after the latter brought up his second consecutive Test century at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo to put the visitors in a commanding position in the second and final Test against Zimbabwe.

After winning the first Test in a convincing manner, Kane Williamson’s side look set to follow suit this time around as well after finishing at 329/2 at stumps on Day 1 on a pitch that was providing little assistance to the bowlers.

Still, Guptill, who himself missed on a Test century falling 13 runs short, feels that Latham's knock deserves recognition as the pitch was proving to very slow at times in comparison to the one used for the first match which saw the ball coming on to the bat bit more freely.

“It was a fraction slower if it could get any slower," Guptill said of the pitches that have been used in the series so far. "It was still tough when they bowled straight lines."

Talking about the good start made by his side, Guptill said that the Black Caps will be looking to make as many runs as possible to bat Zimbabwe out of the match but at the same wants to make sure that the bowlers enough time to bowl out the opposition twice on the unhelpful pitch.

"We're going to go for as many as we can get," Guptill said when asked what sort of first innings total New Zealand would be looking at. "But we will also want to give ourselves enough time to bowl them out. Taking 20 wickets in a Test is no easy feat but this is going to be even harder."

Nyumbu praises Latham

Zimbabwean off-spinner John Nyumbu, who plays his domestic cricket at the Queens, was highly critical of the surface claiming that he had never seen a pitch as flat as this one despite playing for more than 10 years as this one. Nevertheless, he praised Latham for building up his knock in a patient manner making full use of the conditions.

"The coach (Makhaya Ntini) was saying, 'John, this is your home ground so you should be able to get wickets,' but I told him that in ten years of playing here, I have not seen it this flat. Ever,” Nyumbu said.

“Tom is a guy who likes taking his time. He knows if he bats long, he will be able to cash in," he said. "He knows he will get the bowlers to tire and then the more loose balls will come at the end.”