Cricket: Too early to see how Tim Southee’s captaincy style will emerge, says Black Caps opener Tom Latham

Tom Latham on his way to 113 in Karachi. Photo/AP

Overlooked Black Caps captaincy candidate Tom Latham says it will take a few games for Tim Southee’s leadership style to emerge.

Latham was among a trio of batting stars for New Zealand as they took a first-innings advantage on day three of a high-scoring first test against Pakistan in Karachi.

Although time is running out, the deteriorating pitch means a result is still possible in Southee’s first test as captain, since taking over from Kane Williamson ahead of the tour in Pakistan.

“There hasn’t been a massive shift,” said Latham, when asked about Southee’s methods so far.

“Our brand of cricket has been reasonably successful over a period of time.

“Tim’s got an immense amount of experience, been playing a long time for New Zealand. With all the situations he’s been in he’ll bring such a calm nature to his leadership.

“I’m sure over time, once he’s done it for a few games, he’ll put his own spin on things, how he wants to operate, how he wants the group to operate.

“For us, it’s about trying to play our brand of cricket – I’m sure Tim will keep pushing us in that direction.”

The unbeaten Williamson (105*) and Latham (113) scored centuries, while Devon Conway was dismissed on 92 - but not before putting on a record 183-run opening stand with Latham.

Latham’s century was his 13th – the most by a New Zealand opener in tests – and he was proud to move past John Wright and hold the record alone.

“It’s nice to be in that position, we don’t necessarily play for those things, they’re all byproducts of putting in good performances. To be alongside some of those names is really special, certainly a really proud moment.”

It was also his fourth century in Asia, something he puts down to successfully applying himself in the spin-friendly conditions.

“You play a lot of spin over here and use the sweep shot a lot, I’ve used it a lot around the world and find it’s one of my better shots here.”

The Black Caps ended the third day of the test match at 440-6, taking a slim lead in reply to Pakistan’s 438.

Latham said the wicket was deteriorating, offering an increased amount of sharp turn. With only two days left in what has been a batting-dominated test match that looks destined to be a draw, Latham remained hopeful the Black Caps would be able to put themselves in a position to win the match.

“We want to try and get as many runs as possible. The guys coming in will score reasonably freely,” he said.

“We hope to put Pakistan under pressure, use the dusty footmarks. Some straight ones are keeping low and turning – we want to bring the stumps and lbws into play.

“Spin will come into play a lot more. We’re always looking at ways we can win. The more we get, the longer we bat, the more the wicket deteriorates.

“But we also understand that Pakistan have experienced players who know how to bowl in these conditions.”