Pak vs Nz, 1st Test, Day 3: Kane Williamson’s ton helped New Zealand take a lead of 2 runs
Starting the day on 165-0, a 183-run opening partnership with Latham, Conway was out lbw to Nauman, caught inside his crease on the back foot while it was late in the day when Williamson completed his century his 25th in Tests, fifth against Pakistan.
Starting the day on 165-0, a 183-run opening partnership with Latham, Conway was out lbw to Nauman, caught inside his crease on the back foot. At first, Conway was considered not out by umpire Aleem Dar but the decision was overturned on review.
However, Tom Latham fell before lunch attempting to play a reverse sweep off Abrar that popped up to the first slip.
Williamson had a careful start to his innings, attempting to discover real confidence following a lean recent run with the bat. He relied on the sweep to get his early runs, however, as the ball got old, he jumped on Abrar’s inconsistency to hit him for three fours through midwicket in the space of seven balls.
After a short 41-run stand with No. 4 Henry Nicholls ended with the left-hand batter chopping Nauman onto his stumps, Williamson took a back seat with Mitchell leading the run-scoring charge.
That allowed him to quietly move into the 70s, which he further added to, once Blundell brought out his strokes. The only time Williamson went for the big shots was when the spinners pitched it up outside off.
Mitchell shellacked 42 runs in 47 balls after walking in at No. 5 in the middle session. He used the reverse sweep to start-up his boundary-scoring underway before graduating to playing more ordinary shots.
Nauman Ali was sent off for six and four down the ground while Mohammad Wasim endured the worst part of significantly more aggression, hit for four boundaries in four deliveries.
Nauman made more chances earlier in the day. Had they been changed over, his figures would have looked much better than 2 for 137 and Pakistan likely could be in control of the whole Test match.
He had bowled wonderfully to compel blunders from Williamson when the batter was on 15 and 21, however both times Sarfaraz Ahmed could not pull off the stumping. In fairness to the wicketkeeper, they were moderately tough chances.
It was late in the day when Williamson completed his century his 25th in Tests, his fifth against Pakistan, and his first since his 238 in January 2021 against the same rivals. He drove Wasim to mid-off in the 123rd over and arrived at his milestone.
However, that wasn’t the end of the day’s action. Michael Bracewell fell late in the day leaving Ish Sodhi, the No. 8, to face 20 balls in a tricky spell of play to stay unbeaten on 1 alongside Williamson.
