KANE DOES IT AGAIN
Skipper has gift of making the absurdly hard look frictionless, but admits his 129 included stretches of struggle
Kane Williamson will have batted, at the very most, five times in test cricket this year as it draws to a close.
In a demonstration of the value of quality over quantity, the New Zealand skipper has used the four opportunities he’s had at the crease to compile 472 at an average of 118.
He might get one more chance to bat before the boom is lowered on a bizarre 2020, but he’ll be hoping it’s a short one as New Zealand chase victory against Pakistan.
At the risk of using sentences that could be cut and paste from any number of stories, Williamson’s classy, made-to-order century has put New Zealand in prime position to continue their home test dominance.
Williamson has the gift of making the ridiculously hard look somewhat frictionless, but even he admitted this 129 included long periods of struggle. He described the achievement as “really satisfying”, which for Williamson is borderline skiting.
“It was pretty challenging and the Pakistan bowlers were incredibly disciplined. We had to ride our luck,” Williamson said.
“The ball was moving around a bit and they asked a lot of questions in good areas. It was difficult to get a scoring rhythm.
“A lot of the partnerships we built were around time rather than a flow of runs. It’s what you expect when you get put into bat.
“I thought that they bowled beautifully.”
Victory, if it comes, will be hard fought, and depend on the bowlers, who have yet to be found wanting this summer. This, however, is the first time the ball has not swung appreciably.
“As the wicket is starting to age, we know we’re going to have to put in a big effort with the ball in hand and be really patient to get those rewards,” Williamson said, also noting there were some cracks appearing on the rock-hard surface.
“Hopefully it starts to deteriorate . . . but at the same time it’s important that we’re really, really patient. That’s test cricket.”
At the end of day two Pakistan were 30-1 from 20 overs and looked prepared to scrap as they started their pursuit of New Zealand’s imposing 431.
The wicket to fall was Shan Masood, who got the faintest of edges down the leg side to Kyle Jamieson (1-5), who was the pick of the bowlers.
“He’s got a really mature head on his shoulders. He thinks a lot about the game and what he’s trying to do.
He bowled really, really well,” Williamson said.
“We need to hit those areas hard for long periods and consistently.”
Abid Ali was not out 19, with nightwatchman Mohammad Abbas yet to score as the day finished under the Bay Oval lights.
Whether New Zealand will have full use of Neil Wagner will depend on the results of scans he underwent last night. Wagner was struck flush on the boot by Shaheen Shah Afridi while batting and was in a fair bit of pain between innings. He was given pain relief and did bowl three reasonable overs late in the day.
The day’s big story, though, was the skipper.
The batting savant started the second day on 94 and eased his way to a 23rd test century, increasing his lead over Ross Taylor, who scored 70 on day one, by four.
In many ways Williamson’s effort mirrored his 22nd century in that he reached stumps on day one within a single shot of his milestone having spent the majority of the day in a battle of attrition with the bowlers.
The struggle here was greater than it was against the West Indies in Hamilton because the attack led by 20-year-old left-armer Shaheen (4-109) was more skilful and relentless.
Williamson only looked to be batting with relative freedom once he passed three figures and it was a surprise when he pushed hard at one from Yasir Shah and was taken low down at slip by Haris Sohail.
He now sits alongside Kevin Pietersen, Virender Sehwag, Justin Langer and Javed Miandad on the alltime centuries list. Those four all played more than 100 tests; Williamson is playing his 82nd.
It wasn’t a one-man show by any stretch. Taylor was excellent, BJ Watling punched and clipped his way to 73 and Henry Nicholls looked largely untroubled in getting to 56 before neglecting to review his dismissal caught off a bouncer when replays indicated he neither nicked nor gloved it.
“There were a couple of contacts, both arms I think, but he was fairly confident it hit the thumb,” Williamson said of the chat they shared to decide whether to review. “When you look at the replay it’s surprising because it was some distance away.”
As is victory here, but they have three long days to rectify that.