Williamson century wipes out Pak in ODI
WELLINGTON: Kane Williamson may have been New Zealand’s hero in their dominant win over Pakistan in the opening ODI on Saturday, but he said it was not a game for heroics.
“You’re always thinking about the role you need to play and the situation of the game, and it certainly didn’t require something silly,” Williamson said after New Zealand beat the Champions Trophy holders by 61 runs under the Duckworthlewis system.
New Zealand made 315 for seven in their 50 overs and had the tourists at 166 for six when rain stopped play in the 31st over. Pakistan had arrived on a nine-match winning streak but fresh from playing in more accommodating conditions than the 120 kilometre an hour (75 mph) winds and rain that greeted them in Wellington.
After being sent in to bat, Colin Munro (58) and Martin Guptill (48) gave New Zealand a flying start with 83 for the first wicket before Williamson went to the middle with the dismissal of Munro in the 13th over.
While the openers plundered the boundaries, Williamson’s 115 off 117 deliveries came from a diet of ones and twos with only eight fours and one six.
“It was holding in the wicket a little bit, and you come to a point in your innings where you either address it sensibly and accept that’s what it is doing, or you do something silly,” Williamson said.
Williamson, who was dropped on 26 by Pakistan wicketkeeper and captain Sarfraz Ahmed, also featured in a 90-run partnership off 80 balls with Henry Nicholls before he was caught by Hasan Ali off Rumman Raees in the 48th over.
Ali was central in most of the key New Zealand wickets with the dismissals of Munroe, Nicholls (50) and Ross Taylor (12) to finish with three for 61. Fakhar Zaman tried to restore Pakistan’s innings and was unbeaten on 82.
Brief scores: New Zealand 315-7 in 50 overs (M Guptill 48, C Munro 58, K Williamson 115, H Ali 3-61) bt Pakistan 166-6 in 30.1 overs (F Zaman 82, S Khan 28, T Southee 3-22, T Boult 2-35) by 61 runs via D/L Method