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Tom Latham scored a debut century as Warwickshire reached 364-4 against Surrey on the opening day of their County Championship Division One match.<\/b><\/p>\n
New Zealand batter Latham struck an unbeaten 139 from 244 balls after Surrey chose to bowl on another belter of a batting pitch at Edgbaston. <\/p>\n
Rob Yates scored 86 against the champions’ much-changed team with Ollie Pope, Jamie Smith and Gus Atkinson having departed on England duty.<\/p>\n
Surrey are also without Dan Worrall, who they decided to spare the hard labour on a pitch which appears so good for batting that the best chance of victory lies in a fourth day run-chase. <\/p>\n
Warwickshire, meanwhile, are without young seamer Michael Booth who will be sidelined for two to three months by a stress fracture of the fibula. <\/p>\n
Against a Surrey attack including debutant Nathan Smith, Warwickshire started serenely in the Second City sunshine as Yates and Alex Davies (45) gathered an untroubled 70 in 19 overs. <\/p>\n
Davies twice hoisted Jordan Clark for six over the short Hollies Stand boundary but departed in angst after swinging and missing at a full toss from Dan Lawrence.<\/p>\n
Yates and Latham added 112 before the former departed in a different type of angst to this captain. With a century beckoning, he tickled an unthreatening leg-side delivery from Tom Lawes to the wicketkeeper.<\/p>\n
A Latham century looked likely from the moment he took guard. He moved sweetly into the 40s, took a breather and spent 35 balls there, then pulled Clark for six to reach his half-century and galloped from 50 to 80 in another 18 balls. <\/p>\n
It was batting of simple, solid, unhurried class.<\/p>\n
Surrey’s rejigged bowling attack, with Smith, Lawes and Cameron Steel each playing their first game of the season, persevered nobly. <\/p>\n
Sam Hain flicked Clark straight to backward square leg and Lawrence bowled Beau Webster with a beauty through the gate.<\/p>\n
But Ed Barnard (38 not out) joined the implacable Latham to add an unbroken 83 in the last 24 overs of the day. <\/p>\n
Latham reached his 27th first-class century from 161 balls to emulate his countryman Jeetan Patel in making a ton on his Warwickshire debut, immediately providing the top order ballast they badly need.<\/p>\n
It was a gruelling day in the field for Surrey but they will expect similar plunder from their batters, including Jason Roy who will be looking to make it back-to-back Championship centuries spanning six years eight months, having scored 128 against Essex at The Oval in his last Championship game, in September 2018.<\/p>\n
His last first-class appearance was against Hampshire in the Bob Willis Trophy in 2020.<\/p>\n
ECB Reporters’ Network supported by Rothesay<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n