New Zealand Test opener Tom Latham proved an instant hit in Canterbury as he and his new opening partner Daniel Bell-Drummond helped Kent to a 10-wicket win over Glamorgan in Division 2 of the Specsavers County Championship.
Latham, 24, who landed in England in Tuesday via a long-haul flight from Los Angeles, became the first Kent player to pass 50 in both innings of his debut match.
The diminutive left-hander said: “It is nice to come away with a 10-wicket win but I think the way we started with the ball on day one set the tone for the whole match.
“We stuck at our guns pretty well in the field too. Then, it was down to me and Daniel forming a partnership today that saw us through. It was very pleasing.
“It’s pretty good so far, I’m one from one and credit goes to our bowlers for managing to bowl them out twice. With Matt Coles out for a while, Darren Stevens, Mitch Claydon, and even Hugh Bernard, on debut, all had to step up for us.”
The Blackcap batter added: “It’s clear already that Danny and I compliment each other nicely. We set ourselves small targets, five runs here, five runs there and by the end the runs were flowing. Hopefully we can continue on like this for the rest of the season.”
Kent captain Sam Northeast also lauded his openers. He said: "We only had two days of cricket in our first two games, so it’s good to get started. A pretty good result, we weren’t perfect, but we got the job done in the end.
"The openers (Daniel Bell-Drummond and Tom Latham) are both in really good form, a right-left handed partnership is brilliant to have - Deebz looks in great touch and Tom obviously has that bit of quality up the top and it bodes well for the future, no doubt.”
The victory is Kent's first of the season and they leapfrog Glamorgan in the Division Two table after earning 24 points to Glamorgan's 5.