It’s a big test of attrition
... but Williamson leads the way with a defiant century
Attend any Black Caps match and you’ll see a smattering of fans wearing white sailor captain’s hats with the words Steady The Ship, a tribute to Black Caps skipper Kane Williamson.
Rarely has that moniker been more apt than on the second day of the second test against Pakistan, Williamson steadying the ship in classic fashion, then unleashing the full array of his arsenal on a tiring tourists’ attack as he eased to a 24th test century – and first at Hagley Oval.
And, along with hometown hero Henry Nicholls, Williamson turned a precarious position into a dominant one in Christchurch.
By stumps, New Zealand had reached 286-3 in response to 297 compiled by Pakistan on the first day, a strong position achieved through a big dose of hard work and a slice of good fortune.
Williamson was unbeaten on 112 and Nicholls 89, the pair having combined for an unbeaten 215-run partnership for the fourth wicket.
The good fortune came in the form of a massive let-off by Pakistan when Shaheen Afridi looked to have reduced them further into the mire at 74-4 when Nicholls, on just three, nicked one through to Mohammad Rizwan behind the stumps.
But the elation turned to devastation when word filtered through to on-field umpire Chris Brown that Shaheen had overstepped.
They didn’t help themselves later in the day, either, with Shan Masood dropping Williamson at slip on 82 and at gully on 107, and wicketkeeper Rizwan put a straight-forward chance from Nicholls down when on 86.
After negotiating a testing post-lunch spell from Shaheen, Mohammad Abbas, Naseem Shah and Faheem Ashraf, with only 30 runs scored in 14 tight overs, Williamson and Nicholls prospered with the introduction of a couple of part-time bowlers before tea, and then into the third session with the pace attack having lost some zip.
The skipper punched a few through the covers and down the ground, and clipped a few off his pads, and had soon compiled a
half century without giving Pakistan much a sniff.
Nicholls’ 11th test 50 followed soon after.
By the third session the ramp shot and reverse sweep had come out of the bag and away he went.
The Black Caps rattled up 143 runs in the final session, capitalising on the graft of the first two sessions.
Highlighting how rapidly they moved the score along, Williamson took 105 balls to score his first 50 but just 35 balls to go between 50 and 100, bringing up his ton with a neat leg glance, the 15th of his 16 boundaries. It was his third hundred in his last three tests.
Black Caps batting coach Luke Ronchi said it was brilliant to be involved with someone like Williamson.
‘‘He just loves batting. He kicks into gear early in the day when he’s warming up and . . . then it’s just him out there, he’s in his own little world, and he just goes about his business.
‘‘He works really hard in periods and then he’ll play these amazing shots to score his runs. He just makes the game look easy when others seem to not find it so easy.
‘‘I think we’re all in a really cool position to be able to watch how he works and the results that he can produce.’’
One over off Naseem was particularly memorable, as Williamson went from 82 to 94 with clipped two beautifully timed shots through mid-wicket for four and then an exquisite on-drive.
Earlier, openers Tom Blundell and Tom Latham negotiated the first 90 minutes of the day but both succumbed before lunch.
When Ross Taylor nicked one from Abbas to Masood for 12, New Zealand were in trouble at 71-3. Then came the turning point and the rest of the day belonged to Williamson and Nicholls.