New Zealand's stand-in captain, Tom Latham, celebrated his 30th birthday in grand style on Saturday (April 02). The left-handed opener hammered his career-best score of 140* off just 123 deliveries to guide the Kiwis to a commanding 118-run victory over the Netherlands in the second ODI of the three-match series.
And by doing that, Latham has added another feather in his cap as he broke Sachin Tendulkar's 24-year-old record of the highest individual score on his birthday.
'Master Blaster', who had hammered a brutal 143 in what is now called the 'sandstorm knock' against the likes of Shane Warne to take India into the finals of the tri-nation series, did an encore of the same on his 25th birthday against mighty Australia.
Tendulkar smashed the Aussie attack into bits and pieces to 134 to lead the Indians to a fairytale series win.
At the time, Tendulkar had broken his friend Vinod Kambli's record of scoring the most runs on birthdays. Kambli had scored 100 on his 20th birthday back in 1993.
Over the years, plenty of batters came close to breaking Sachin's record, the closest being Latham's compatriot and New Zealand legend, Ross Taylor, who hammered a brutal 131 against Pakistan at Pallekele in the 2011 World Cup.
Coming back to Latham, the southpaw's knock rescued New Zealand from a precarious position after they had been reduced to 5-32 and then 6-89.
Latham smashed as many as ten fours and five monstrous sixes during his birthday bashings, which eventually guided the home side to 9-264 in 50 overs.
The total proved to be more than enough as the trio of Kyle Jamieson, Ish Sodhi, and Michael Bracewell claimed seven wickets between them to bowl out the Dutch for a mere 146 in 34.1 overs.
As expected, the Blackcaps skipper was adjudged the 'Player of the Match' for his record-breaking performance.
Most runs by batter on their birthday:
Tom Latham, 140* vs Netherlands, 2022
Sachin Tendulkar, 134 vs Australia, 1998
Ross Taylor, 131 vs Pakistan, 2011
Sanath Jayasuriya, 130 vs Bangladesh, 2008
Vinod Kambli, 100 vs England, 1993