Williamson’s knock gives hosts edge on day two

TAURANGA: Kane Williamson’s 129-run knock helped New Zealand to post a substantial score on day two of the first Test against Pakistan on Sunday here at the Bay Oval. New Zealand posted a total of 431 in the first innings as BJ Watling (73) and Henry Nicholls (56) also made good contributions with the bat. Pakistan lost the wicket of Shan Masood (10) before the close of play on day two. The left-hander was sent back to the pavilion by Kyle Jamieson. Pakistan ended day two at 30/1, still trailing the hosts by 401 runs. For the visitors, Abid Ali and Mohammad Abbas are currently unbeaten on 19 and 0 respectively.

Resuming day two at 222/3, overnight batters Williamson and Nicholls added 44 more runs to the total, but Pakistan finally got a breakthrough in the 101st over as Nicholls (56) was sent back to the pavilion by Naseem Shah. Soon after, skipper Williamson (129) was also dismissed by Yasir Shah, reducing Kiwis to 281/5.

Mitchell Santner and Kyle Jamieson then provided muchneeded support to wicket-keeper batsman BJ Watling and these three batters ensured that the hosts post a total of more than the 400-run mark. Watling played a knock of 73 while Jamieson and Santner scored 32 and 19 respectively. In the end, Neil Wagner and Trent Boult scored 19 and 8 respectively as New Zealand was bundled out for 431. For Pakistan, Shaheen Afridi took four wickets while Yasir scalped three wickets. Brief Scores: Pakistan 30/1 (Abid Ali 19*, Shan Masood 10, Kyle Jamieson 1-5) vs New Zealand 431 (Kane Williamson 129, BJ Watling 73, Shaheen Afridi 4-109).