New Zealand captain Kane Williamson was in the spotlight of his 23rd-century Test after he rebuilt the home team’s textures and led them to a tough 222-3 at the end of the opening day of the first test against Pakistan in Mount Maunganui Saturday.
Williamson, who missed the final test against the West Indies while awaiting the birth of his first child, was 94 at Bay Oval alongside Henry Nichols at 42 while New Zealand fought for much of the day. against Pakistan’s disciplined and just bowling attack.
Williamson, 30, joined Ross Taylor (70) in partnership with 120 runs to regenerate the joints after Shaheen Afridi confirmed captain Mohammad’s decision. Rizwan to bow first on the grass wicket.
Shaheen broke Tom Latham (four) and Tom Blundell (five) to reduce the hosts to 13-2 within the first 45 minutes.
New Zealand’s fighters could not get into their comfort zone as the bowlers were always challenging them, including deceptive sights and flying edges. sudden near fielders.
“Shaheen moved really well,” Taylor said. “And (Mohammad) Abbas you feel like it gives you nothing,” he said of figures 0-25 from 21 years from veterans.
“To get to 222-3 after those early wickets, we would definitely have taken that at the start of the day.”
Williamson and Taylor, who became New Zealand ‘s most captivating player on Saturday, managed to get their side through to 55 for two at lunchtime and took control of the mid – session.
Taylor marked his 438th international match across all three forms with his 34th half-century test when he swept the Yasir Shah trophy well for his eighth finish.
But just as he began to accelerate the run-after rate of tea and looked very ready for his 20th century test, the veteran became Shaheen’s third wicket.
Williamson and Nicholls, who were let off at six on a good leg, then went through to stumps with their unbroken 89-run partnership, although the captain had a slice of luck when he fell on 86 by Haris Sohail in the trenches off Shaheen.