New Zealand vs West Indies First Test, Day 1: Captain Kane Williamson and starter Tom Latham scored brilliant half a century Thursday as New Zealand dominated the proceedings on the opening day of the first Test against the West Indies to be played at Seddon Park.
At the end of the day’s play, the Black Caps were well placed 243/2 with Williamson and Ross Taylor hitting the crease at 97 and 31 respectively.
Previously, West Indies captain Jason Holder won the toss and chose to field on a pitch that seemed to have a lot of help for pacemakers. His decision came off right when Shannon Gabriel drew the first blood, sending Will Young back to the locker room after the rookie scored five 11-ball runs.
Bowlers from the West Indies, however, came back strong in the final session and showed much more consistency in their lengths by throwing full bowls, on stumps and asking pertinent questions.
Latham landed on one of those nice balls thrown by Kemar Roach when he was wiped through the gate as he tried to pull away from his body with huge momentum after scoring 86 runs.
Taylor, who came in afterward, made sure the visitors didn’t make any more forays, as he and the skipper added 75 runs to the scoreboard to bring the team’s score to 243/2 at Stumps. Williamson is only three short of what his 22nd test hundred would be.
Short Scores: New Zealand 243/2 after 78 overs (Kane Williamson 97 *, Tom Latham 86; Kemar Roach 1/53)
