Kiwi captain racks up runs in huge win
He’s not prone to batting silliness but even Kane Williamson had to work hard to keep himself in check as he struggled early at the Basin Reserve.
The Black Caps captain hit his 10th one-day international century and first by a New Zealander at the Basin in 43 years to lead his side to a 61-run Duckworth-Lewis win over Pakistan in the first ODI. His 115 off 117 deliveries yesterday led the Black Caps to 315-7, a record total at the ground.
Williamson arrived at the crease in the 13th over, having watched Colin Munro blast 58 off 35 balls to give New Zealand a fast start.
But Williamson didn’t find the going quite as easy as his flying lefthanded opener.
‘‘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.
‘‘Today I was a little bit more sensible and accepting of the fact that they did bowl well for a long time there, and I felt we were perhaps fortunate to get that above 300 score.
‘‘They did execute their plans well, the wind was tough to deal with, and maybe that’s where we gained an upper hand, but you do ebb and flow through an innings.
‘‘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 got lucky on 26 when he was dropped by wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed. Sarfraz, Pakistan’s captain, had just been berating a team-mate for a misfield, then shelled the key chance next ball.
Despite that error, Williamson continued to build a good partnership with a patient Martin Guptill (48 from 72), but when Guptill fell and the middle order swiftly followed, it took more sensible play from the captain. It was Williamson’s immaculate placement of the ball which turned ones into twos, and his timing ensured he found the boundary at a regular clip, without ever taking a risk.
Henry Nicholls came to the crease and scored 50 at better than a run a ball to help Williamson towards the finish, taking the pressure off. ‘‘It was really important,’’ Williamson said of that partnership. ‘‘It was important to try and take the game a little bit deeper and he took the initiative and scored quite freely.’’
Williamson felt the total was higher than they should have got, given how well Pakistan bowled and the nature of the pitch.
Opener Fakhar Zaman tried in vain to join Williamson with the fourth Basin Reserve ODI century in the second innings, only to end on 82 not out as rain stopped play with the tourists struggling on 166-6.
The Pakistani opener, playing only his 10th ODI, sampled his first taste of defeat, having won the previous DAVID LONG pB3 nine games he’d played. Despite Fakhar’s impressive display which included four sixes, Pakistan were never in their chase. They slumped to 54-5, with Tim Southee taking three of the first four wickets to fall.
‘‘It was a very good performance. They’re a very good side, Pakistan, so it was very important we started the series strong,’’ Williamson said.
‘‘We saw that in the first partnership which was outstanding with Colin taking the initiative and Martin playing the anchor role to build that platform. We got what was probably an above par score.’’
Williamson became just the fourth New Zealander to score 10 ODI centuries, joining team-mates Ross Taylor (17) and Guptill (12), as well as Nathan Astle (16).