[ad_1]
Advancing into the fold with New Zealand at 452-5, the prospect of scoring a century of opening test match hadn’t even entered Daryl Mitchell’s mind.
Less than 35 overs later, he was raising his bat acknowledging the widespread applause from the Hagley Oval crowd as he walked home to his newly adopted home with an undefeated 102 to his name, a first ton of proof in just his fourth game.
“It’s probably not yet assimilated, to be fair, quite surreal at this point … having a century of testing is great,” said the 29-year-old, grateful that Captain Kane Williamson had given him a little more time. . than expected before declaration.
Kai Schwoerer / Getty Images
Daryl Mitchell celebrates his first century of trial.
“I was happy to go out and try to be busy and contribute to trying to put a total for us to try and get 10 lots. My role was just to try to get a total and see what we could do. “
Once he entered the 80s and 90s, he had one eye in the dressing room waiting for the call. But Williamson extended the statement to give Mitchell time to score his hundred, not that he needed much as he had 74 runs with 8.1 overs with Kyle Jamieson.
READ MORE:
* New Zealand vs Pakistan: Talking points before Test 2 at Hagley Oval
* Black Caps vs Pakistan: Mitchell Santner Makes Vital Contribution to Pushing Test Case
* Enigma for Black Caps after heroic Neil Wagner ruled out second test against Pakistan
“They gave me two overs to start after tea, so I thought after two overs we were out. Obviously, I am very grateful to Kane and the coaching staff for allowing me to achieve that milestone. I was swinging pretty hard there in the points to try to get there and very grateful that that happened. “
His 112-ball hit contained eight fours and two sixes, but he wasn’t sure if his wife Amy and their two daughters, the youngest just five weeks old, were on the ground to witness it.
“I think they probably had to go for a nap at some point because they are so young, so I’m not sure if they were there at the end,” he said, noting that messages from friends and family had just started to come through.
“I literally just turned on my phone … I can see it vibrate down there going crazy, but obviously so thankful for all the support you get from your family and friends at times like this.”
Mitchell said scoring his first hundred in his adopted hometown (he moved to Canterbury from the northern districts earlier this season to be closer to his wife’s family) was special, as was sharing a 133-race partnership with Williamson, who was supreme in scoring 238.
“Obviously Kane’s punch today is incredible and it set us up for a chance to win this test match.
Kai Schwoerer / Getty Images
Kane Williamson recognizes his double century.
It’s a phenomenon, isn’t it? He is amazing. He makes the game look so easy right now and the way he’s doing things it’s great to see him do it so well.
“For me, I played Kane when we were 14 years old and now playing test cricket with him is great. He is a very special player and I think he will probably go down easily as New Zealand’s greatest. “
On the stumps, Pakistan was 8-1 in their second attack, still trailing by 354 runs after New Zealand declared their first inning at 659-6 at the end of the third day.
