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The Black Caps were in trouble early on the first day of Test 1 against Pakistan, but Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor, who else? – came to his rescue in Bay Oval on December 26.
Williamson walked to the middle to face the fourth ball of the day, after Tom Latham was fired by Shaheen Shah Afridi for four, and he was still there in the stumps seven and a half hours later, undefeated at 94 with his flank. 222-3, although he was a bit lucky in the end.
Shaheen thought he had caught Williamson LBW at the start of 85, but the quick one with his left arm failed to convince his captain Mohammad Rizwan to revise the original decision not to start, which replay proved to be a mistake.
Phil Walter / Getty Images
Black Caps captain Kane Williamson was in the middle for all but three balls on the first day of the first test.
Initially, it appeared that Williamson had introduced delivery on his back pad, making Rizwan’s decision on the mark, but further replay showed that he had actually hit him on the front pad first.
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Taylor joined Williamson in the crease on the eleventh day when Tom Blundell became Shaheen’s second day victim, departing around five.
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The Black Caps duo, Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor, shared a century-old booth for the 10th time in test cricket.
He proceeded to set his record 438 caps for New Zealand in all formats by making 70, his highest score since England’s visit to these shores last November.
Williamson and Taylor had to work hard, especially against the new ball duo of Shaheen (who took 3-55 in 20 overs) and Mohammad Abbas (a miserable 0-25 in 21), but once they got ready they were able to carry their side to a total they would have liked after losing the toss and asking them to hit.
His efforts, and those of Henry Nicholls, not in ’42, ensured that the crowd of 6,285 went home happy from their vacation outing, though that might not have been the case with the one who was escorted early after a streak of the afternoon.
Taylor got into the fold with Black Caps 13-2 in the 11th and took a more defensive approach than he usually does, but together with Williamson he made sure the Black Caps got to lunch with no more damage and 55 runs on the board. .
They had to reapply after the interval and it was slow, with only 19 runs added in 14 overs in the first hour of the session.
Taylor capitalized on his half-century with 127 balls, sweeping Yasir Shah by four to end a 10-inning test streak without one, then hitting Abbas by two in the next round to bring out the 100-run partnership between himself and Williamson. . the tenth time they had reached that milestone together in a decade as teammates.
After turning 50, Taylor’s game began to get more offensive. He swept Yasir by six, then by four, and in the tea he was at 66, with 54 runs added in the second hour.
Williamson entered the interval at 49, but regained his half-century with the first ball back, looking Shaheen off the side of the leg and hitting a single.
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Black Caps hitter Ross Taylor on his way to 70 on the first day of the first Test against Pakistan.
Taylor drove Shaheen through the covers for four on that change, but was beaten in the next, then was sacked by a ball that expertly shot through him and produced a lead for goalkeeper Rizwan, finishing his save at 120.
With an open end, the search for Pakistan was on, and they missed a chance to catch Henry Nicholls early, when Abbas dropped him on the thin leg in six hooking Naseem Shah.
Williamson survived a scare at the end after the new ball was taken, when Shaheen took his lead, but Haris Sohail couldn’t pick it up on the first slip.
The Black Caps scored 94 runs in the final session of the day, while only losing Taylor and are ready to go when play resumes at 11 a.m. Sunday, although afternoon showers are forecast and could interfere with their plans.
Shaheen started the day on fire, squaring Latham on the first ball and gaining a lead that escaped the third-man limit, then landed another on his third ball that flew towards Azhar Ali on the third slip to send the opener on his way. for a duck. .
He then fired Latham’s first teammate Blundell on his sixth over, gaining an advantage on a drive, which Yasir did well to catch on the bottom of the cord.
While Pakistan toiled in the field, he suffered a blow, and the all-rounder Shadab Khan was ruled out of the second test in Christchurch, as he was advised to take six weeks off to recover from a thigh injury.
At Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui: Black Caps 222-3 in 87 overs (Williamson 94th, Taylor 70; Shaheen 3-55) with Pakistan.
