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What a delight that was.
New Zealand cricket fans have felt quite spoiled by this Black Caps team in recent years, but they can add witnessing one of the great individual entries and associations to that gift list.
It’s hard to find enough superlatives to describe Kane Williamson’s hitting right now. His last hit ended at 238, a national record equivalent to the fourth test double hundred, having led the Black Caps to a commanding position in the second test against Pakistan in Christchurch.
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Kane Williamson recognizes his double century.
When they declared 659-6 at the end of the third day, New Zealand had a first inning with a 362 lead and was in the open for a test win, a series win, the No. 1 world ranking and a decent shot at do the World Test. Championship final at Lord’s in June.
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Pakistan was already in trouble on their second dig, 8-1 on the stumps after Kyle Jamieson landed Shan Masood for the second time in the match.
And we haven’t even mentioned Henry Nicholls or Daryl Mitchell, yet.
Canterbury’s own hundreds of hitters were momentous; Nicholls went from 89 overnight to 157 playing with a strained left calf that was visibly causing him considerable trouble, while Mitchell’s energetic 102 undefeated, with just 112 balls, was his first century of testing.
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Henry Nicholls is congratulated by Kane Williamson after scoring his hundred.
Together, Williamson and Nicholls dragged New Zealand from a precarious position at 71-3 to one of absolute dominance at 440-4, a 369-run fourth-place finish that has only been beaten twice by a pair from New Zealand in the history of the test.
Not only does the association qualify for the top echelon based on sheer racing weight, the context of the match when they came together gives it added meaning, with the Black Caps battling tough terrain to hit and still trailing Pakistan by 226. careers.
The association ranks third on the all-time list for New Zealand, for any ground against any country, behind only Martin Crowe and Andrew Jones (467 for third ground against Sri Lanka in Wellington in 1991) and Glenn Turner and Terry Jarvis (387 for the first field against the West Indies at Georgetown in 1972).
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Daryl Mitchell celebrates his first century of trial.
It was also a record fourth-field partnership for New Zealand against all countries, eclipsing the 271 Ross Taylor and Jesse Ryder together against India at Napier in 2009.
The partnership resumed on the third day at 215, and the pair added 154 runs before Nicholls left, caught on the thin leg hooking Mohammad Abbas for 157 of 291 balls, an inning that included 18 fours and one six.
Nicholls’ seventh century test, and second in three tests, was in danger of no-show due to calf strain, but passed a morning networking session test and was cleared to continue, although team management said he would have to manage the injury for the remainder of the test, then undergo rehabilitation after further evaluation.
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Henry Nicholls from New Zealand receives medical help from the physical therapist.
However, he resumed at 89 and continued to get lucky after falling at 92 when Azhar Ali threw a relatively simple gully opportunity, and then again at 133 when Naseem Shah dropped a tough caught and thrown opportunity.
Williamson, who had started the day at 112, became the third New Zealander behind Ross Taylor and Stephen Fleming to score 7,000 test runs, in just his 83rd round, when he hit 123. Highlighting his world-class status, just 12 players have 7,000 runs in fewer innings than Williamson’s 144.
The New Zealand patron continued to plunder Pakistan’s attack in his own beautiful aesthetic way.
Like Nicholls, he had some luck, falling to 82, 107 and 177, but then joined Brendon McCullum as the only New Zealander to score four hundred tests. When he was finally fired, he faced 364 balls, hit 28 fours and had batted for 573 minutes.
He also seemed quite annoyed with himself. On the rushing momentum, he threw a Faheem Ashraf goalie straight to the third man, and the reaction to his mistake was that of a man not many ago.
However, Mitchell continued to pound Pakistan, hitting to and beyond the boundary and collecting many twos and threes with the field spread out everywhere.
Williamson may have wanted to testify earlier, but allowed off-road time to pass a maiden ton, Mitchell combined with Jamieson (30 *) to score 74 runs of 8.1 overs prior to the statement.
MOST TESTS ARE EXECUTED FOR NEW ZEALAND
Ross Taylor – 7379
Stephen Fleming – 7172
Kane Williamson – 7115
Brendon McCullum – 6453
Martin Crowe – 5444
John Wright – 5334
Nathan Astle – 4702
Daniel Vettori – 4523
Tom Latham – 3929
BJ Watling – 3766
HIGHEST TEST ALLIANCES FOR NEW ZEALAND
Martin Crowe and Andrew Jones – 467 for the third wicket against Sri Lanka, Wellington, 1991
Glenn Turner and Terry Jarvis – 387 for first wicket against West Indies, Georgetown, 1972
Kane Williamson and Henry Nicholls – 369 for the fourth wicket against Pakistan, Christchurch, 2021
Kane Williamson and BJ Watling – 365 * for the sixth wicket against Sri Lanka, Wellington, 2015
Brendon McCullum and BJ Watling – 352 for sixth field v India, Wellington, 2014
Martin Guptill & Brendon McCullum – 339 for the sixth wicket v Bangladesh, Hamilton, 2010
