Stats: New Zealand bats out Sri Lanka to set a 660-run target in the Christchurch Test

New Zealand have almost batted Sri Lanka out of the second Test match in Christchurch by setting a mammoth target of 660 runs. The hosts now have two more days of play to pick eight more wickets and win the Test series after the Lankans finished day three at 24/2. Tom Latham struck a brilliant 176, opening the innings and shared a double century stand with Henry Nicholls, who remained unbeaten on 162, for the 4th wicket. The Kiwis declared their second innings on 585/4 and bowled 14 overs before stumps.

All the numbers from New Zealand’s second innings of the Christchurch Test:

Sri Lanka gets a mountain to chase:

0 – Number of times New Zealand have set a target in excess of 500 in Test cricket. They have set a target of 660 runs for Sri Lanka to track down in this game. The previous highest target the Kiwis set in Tests was 481 runs in the 2013 Auckland Test against England.

660 – This target of 660 is the 8th highest in the history of Test cricket and the highest in more than 50 years. The last time a team set as big a target in the 4th innings was in the 1969 Test match when Australia put forth 735 to chase for Windies.

A series to remember for Latham:

889 – Number of deliveries Tom Latham faced in this Test series; the 3rd most by any player in a 2-match Test series. Hashim Amla faced 1033 balls while Andy Flower faced 1021 deliveries in 2010 and 2000 respectively in the two-match series against India. The previous most for New Zealand was 887 balls by Brendon McCullum in the 2014 home Test series against India.

450 – Latham’s 450 runs in this Test series are the 2nd most by a New Zealand player in a 2-match Test series. Only Brendon McCullum (535 vs India in 2014) has scored more runs in a Test series for the Kiwis than Latham.

The left-hander is also the first New Zealand opener with 400+ runs in a Test series in more than 45 years. The last player with 400+ runs in a Test series while opening the innings for New Zealand was Glenn Turner with 672 in 1972 against the Windies.

2924 – Runs Tom Latham has scored in Test cricket while opening the innings. He is now the 2nd most prolific opener in the longer format for the Kiwis surpassing Glenn Turner’s 2828 runs.

John Wright’s 5260 runs are the most for any New Zealand opening batsman. Latham, with 8 tons as a Test opener, went past Turner’s seven tons as the NZ opener. He is now only behind Wright’s 12 centuries.

176 – With his 176 in the second innings, Latham became the first Kiwi opener to score 150+ in Test cricket on three different occasions. Glenn Turner and Brendon McCullum have two such scores to their name while opening for New Zealand in the longer format.

New Zealand comes back strong:

407 – New Zealand scored 407 more runs in the second innings than the first innings. This is the 3rd highest variation in New Zealand’s total in a Test match. They had a difference of 497 runs (174 and 671/4) in the 1991 Wellington Test against Sri Lanka and 488 runs (192 and 680/8) in the 2014 Wellington Test against India.

Grandhomme’s blitz:

28 – Colin de Grandhomme’s 28-ball fifty is the fastest by a New Zealand player in Test cricket and also the fastest Test fifty by any player in New Zealand. Previous fastest was off 29 balls by Tim Southee on his Test debut against England in the 2008 Napier Test while batting at No.10.

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