Black Caps running hot
Kane Williamson’s test scores in NZ this season
What a treat that was.
New Zealand cricket fans have been spoilt by this Black Caps team in recent years, but they can add witnessing one of the great individual innings, and partnerships, to that list of gifts.
It’s difficult to find enough superlatives to describe Kane Williamson’s batting at the moment. He ended his latest knock with 238 to his name, a national recordequalling fourth test double hundred, having led the Black Caps to a commanding position in the second test against Pakistan in Christchurch..
When they declared at 659-6 soon after tea on the third day, New Zealand had a first innings lead of 362 and were in sight of a test win, series win, the world No 1 ranking, and a decent shot at making the World Test Championship final at Lord’s in June.
By stumps Pakistan were 8-1, trailing by 354 runs and facing a huge fight to avoid an innings defeat.
We haven’t even mentioned Henry Nicholls, or Daryl Mitchell, yet. The Canterbury batsmens’ own hundreds were momentous; Nicholls went from 89 overnight to 157 playing with a strained left calf that was causing him considerable trouble while Mitchell’s brisk unbeaten 102, off just 112 balls, was his maiden test century.
Together, Williamson and Nicholls dragged New Zealand from a precarious 71-3 to one of utter dominance at 440-4, a 369-run fourth wicket stand that has only been bettered twice by a New Zealand pair in test history.
Not only does the partnership qualify for the upper echelon based on runs alone, the context of the match when they came together gives it added significance, with the Black Caps in strife on a tricky wicket for batting and still trailing Pakistan by 226 runs.
The partnership sits third on the alltime list for New Zealand, for any wicket against any country, behind only Martin Crowe and Andrew Jones (467 for the third wicket v Sri Lanka in Wellington in 1991) and Glenn Turner and Terry Jarvis (387 for the first wicket against the West Indies in Georgetown in 1972). It was also a record fourth-wicket partnership for New Zealand against all countries.
The partnership resumed on the third day at 215, and the pair added a further 154 runs before Nicholls departed, caught at fine leg hooking Mohammad Abbas for
157 off 291 balls, an innings that included 18 fours and one six.
Nicholls’ seventh test century, and second in three tests, was in danger of not eventuating due to the calf strain, but he passed a morning nets session test and was cleared to bat on.
He resumed on 89 and continued to ride his luck, being dropped on 92 when Azhar Ali shelled a chance at gully, and on
133 when Naseem Shah dropped a tough caught and bowled chance. On Monday, he was caught behind off a no-ball when on 3, and put down by wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan on 86.
Williamson, who had started the day on 112, then became the third New Zealander behind Ross Taylor and Stephen Fleming to score 7000 test runs, in just his 83rd test, when he got to 123. Only 12 players have got to 7000 runs in fewer innings than Williamson’s
144.
The New Zealand skipper continued to plunder the Pakistan attack in his own, beautifully aesthetic, way. Like Nicholls he had some luck, dropped on 82, 107 and
177, but he went on to join Brendon McCullum as the only New Zealanders to score four test hundreds.
When he was finally dismissed he’d faced 364 balls, hit 28 fours, and had batted for 573 minutes.