NZ vs WI, 2020: 1st Test, Day 1 – Holder’s toss streak, Williamson's record in Hamilton and more stats

New Zealand made a solid start to the Test series against West Indies as they finished the opening day on 243/2 even while the first session got washed out. The home side lost debutant Will Young early on a green track at the Seddon Park. But the other opener Tom Latham (86) added 154 runs for the 2nd wicket alongside the skipper Kane Williamson. Kemar Roach cleaned up Latham before Williamson was involved in an unbeaten 75-run stand with Ross Taylor (33*). The captain of Blackcaps will be resuming his innings on Friday with three runs short of yet another Test hundred.

Here are all the statistical highlights from the opening day’s play of the first NZ vs WI Test:

Holder elects to bowl first yet again:

7* – Jason Holder has elected to bowl first in each of his last seven Tests where he won the toss. Only one captain had elected to bowl first in more than seven consecutive Tests while winning the toss – Geoff Howarth (8 during 1980-1983).

Arjuna Ranatunga (1989-1992) and Kane Williamson (2016-2018) also had a streak of electing to bat in seven consecutive Tests where they elected to bowl first on winning the toss. The Hamilton Test is the 9th where Holder won the toss in his last 10 Test matches as captain.

Williamson @ 1000 Test runs in Hamilton:

1084 – Kane Williamson has scored 1084 runs in Test cricket at the Seddon Park in Hamilton as at the end of the first day of 1st NZ vs WI Test. Williamson needed only 17 innings for reaching the milestone; the 2nd fastest to 1000 Test runs at a venue in New Zealand. Martin Crowe needed only 14 innings for completing 1000 Test runs at the Basin Reserve.

10 – Williamson’s unbeaten 97 on the first day was his 10th fifty-plus score in Test cricket at the Seddon Park. He is only the 2nd player to record ten or more fifty-plus scores in Tests at a venue in New Zealand. Ross Taylor has 11 fifty-plus Test scores in Wellington including three hundreds.

9/10 – Williamson has at least one 50+ score in nine of the ten Test matches he played in Hamilton. The Test match in November 2016 against Pakistan (13 & 42) was the only Test match where Kane failed to record a 50+ score in Hamilton.

Williamson equals Fleming:

14 – Kane Williamson has scored 50+ runs in as many as 14 Test innings at home while leading New Zealand (6 100s, 8* 50s). These are now the joint-most 50+ scores in Test cricket for a New Zealand captain at home equaling Stephen Fleming (1 100, 13 50s). Williamson has played only 29 innings a home in the longer format as captain while Fleming batted as many as 61 innings.

733 – Williamson has scored as many as 733 runs in Test cricket at the Seddon Park while leading New Zealand. These are the most runs scored by a New Zealand skipper at any venue in the longer format going past Stephen Fleming’s 691 runs at the Basin Reserve in Wellington.