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The Black Caps fought back from a shaky start to take control of the first day of the Boxing Day cricket test against Pakistan at Bay Oval.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT
On the stumps, New Zealand was 222-3 with Captain Kane Williamson on the fold at 94 and Henry Nicholls at 42.
Earlier, Pakistan’s Shaheen Afridi hit the third ball of the day to eliminate starter Tom Latham and again at the 11th to fire Tom Blundell and leave the Black Caps 13-2.
But a 120-run partnership between Williamson and Ross Taylor, who became the most capped Black Cap on Saturday, stabilized innings.
Taylor brought out his 34th Test half a century just before the tea break before becoming Shaheen’s third scalp when he was out of the 70s.
On a tough day for hitting, the New Zealanders took advantage of their opportunities and some mistakes on the Pakistani field.
New Zealand batsmen were unable to get into their comfort zone as bowlers constantly challenged them, inducing false shots and edges flying agonizingly near fielders.
“Shaheen played fantastically well,” Taylor said. “And (Mohammad) Abbas feels like he’s not giving you anything,” he added of the veteran’s 0-25 numbers in 21 overs.
“To get to 222-3 after those first wickets, we definitely would have taken it earlier in the day.”
Williamson and Taylor were able to take their team to 55 for two at lunch and then dominated the intermediate session.
Taylor marked his 438th international game in all three formats with his 34th half-century of testing when he swept leg trainer Yasir Shah well for his eighth limit.
But just as he was starting to pick up the pace after tea and looking well prepared for his 20th century of testing, the veteran became Shaheen’s third wicket.
Williamson and Nicholls, who fell by six on the thin leg, then pushed to the side to the stumps with their unbroken 89-run pair, though the captain got a bit of luck when Haris Sohail dropped to 86 on Shaheen’s slips.
Look at the comments of the match on the first day.
– RNZ / Reuters
