Williamson pulls rank on NZ’s lofty status
Kane Williamson wasn’t drawn on celebrating New Zealand’s elevation to second in the test rankings ahead of the Black Caps returning to test cricket against Bangladesh in Hamilton today.
South Africa’s surprise home series loss to Sri Lanka propelled New Zealand to world No 2 in the test arena for the first time.
The Black Caps will pull on the whites again when hosting Bangladesh at Seddon Park in the first match of their three-test series and skipper Williamson was keen to ditch talk of their historic ranking as they target an unprecedented fifth successive test series triumph.
‘‘It’s something you don’t focus on. You’re just focusing on the cricket that you play,’’ Williamson said yesterday.
‘‘I guess if you can sit down at the end of the season and look back, then it might be something you look back fondly on. But there’s a lot of tough cricket between now and the end of the season.’’
Williamson confirmed New Zealand’s side for the Hamilton test and, as expected, Todd Astle is back as leading spinner, Matt Henry is the seam bowler who drops out, with batting cover Will Young also cut.
After trouncing Bangladesh 3-0 in the one-day matches, the Black Caps start as massive favourites following their 1-0 series win against Sri Lanka on home soil in December.
Astle replacing the unlucky Ajaz Patel is the only change to a settled side that thumped Sri Lanka by 423 runs in the Boxing Day test in Christchurch.
But Williamson, while acknowledging the recent spate of surprise results, was quick to point out that ‘‘every team in international cricket is a threat’’ with Bangladesh still chasing a first test win against New Zealand, who haven’t lost in the longest format at Seddon Park since 2012.
‘‘They’re all very, very talented,’’ Williamson said. ‘‘Sri Lanka [winning] in South Africa was a fantastic result. It’s hard to beat them anywhere – let alone in their backyard. ‘‘Anybody can beat anybody.’’ Williamson also touched on Bangladesh’s previous tour of New Zealand in 2017 when the tourists posted 595-8 batting first in Wellington, but collapsed to a seven-wicket defeat en route to a 2-0 series loss.
Bangladesh have beaten England, Sri Lanka and Australia on home soil, with their latest series in the whites being a 2-0 home win against the West Indies, but they’ve typically struggled with conditions overseas.
Evidence from the one-day series suggests Bangladesh found the movement of New Zealand’s fast bowlers troubling and the pace attack of Trent Boult, Tim Southee, Neil Wagner and Colin de Grandhomme will no doubt relish firing down a swinging red ball.
However, Bangladesh’s batters found form in last weekend’s warmup match against a New Zealand XI in Lincoln, finishing day one at 411-6 with their middle order – Liton Das (62), Soumya Sarkar (41), Mahmudullah (59) and Mehedi Hasan Miraz (51) – all retiring not out.
Shadman Islam top scored with 67 and destructive opener Tamim Iqbal (45) was back in the runs after a lean one-day series.
Stand-in captain Mahmudullah acknowledged ‘‘conditions would be tough’’ for his side but he said they would be ‘‘positive’’ in their approach as Bangladesh seek their first test victory on the road since winning in Sri Lanka almost two years ago.
Mahmudullah skippers Bangladesh in the absence of allrounder Shakib Al-Hasan, who is expected to miss the whole series because of a broken finger.
Wicketkeeper/batsman Mushfiqur Rahim is absent from the Hamilton test with rib and finger injuries and is doubtful for the rest of the series.