Twitter Reactions: Pakistan on top despite Kane Williamson and Watling's resistance
Williamson missed out on a well-deserved century by 11 runs while Watling battled for 180 balls to score 42 runs.
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The deciding Test match of the enthralling Test series between Pakistan and New Zealand got underway today in Abu Dhabi. The visitors won the toss and without any doubt in mind, opted to bat first as they made two changes to their line-up. While William Somerville was handed over a debut in place of Ish Sodhi, the experienced Tim Southee replaced Neil Wagner. Shaheen Afridi, in the other camp, wore the white jersey for his country for the first time as Mohammad Abbas was injured and ruled out.
In the sub-continent, winning the toss is the most important thing and the Kiwis did it. It was all up to their batsmen now to put up a decent total on the board in order to put pressure on the opposition. Their openers, Jeet Raval and Tom Latham, didn’t disappoint and got off to a flyer with boundaries coming regularly. But the debutant kept his cool and consistently swung the ball into the batsmen.
Latham fell into the trap as the on-field decision was superbly overturned with a smart use of DRS to give the youngster his first wicket in the format. Kane Williamson‘s arrival, as usual, brought calmness to the proceedings and it rubbed the shoulders of Raval as well.
Both of them looked authoritative in their shots and added 46 runs for the second wicket. But once again when Raval looked comfortable in the middle, he was snaffled by his nemesis Yasir Shah. This was the beginning of a mini-collapse once again. Ross Taylor was castled off the very first ball as the ball kept alarmingly low and Henry Nicholls was bowled around his playing a sweep shot.
Impeccable resistance from Kane and BJ
In no time, Pakistan had reduced the tourists from 70/1 to 72/4 and a collapse like the last game was a possibility yet again. But Williamson and BJ Watling showed impeccable resistance to not give away their wickets. Sarfraz Ahmed made frequent changes to the bowling attack but they stayed put to their defense. While the Kiwi skipper accumulated runs whenever available, Watling was just all about defending and a single here or there.
Courtesy them, New Zealand didn’t lose any wicket in the second and things came back to normalcy for them. The aim was now to post a significant total on the board. These were danger signs for the home side as Williamson looked set for his century and Watling was playing with his usual pace.
Hasan Ali breaks through
The partnership crossed the three-figure mark and was threatening to blossom even more. In the meantime, Williamson sensationally fell in the trap thanks to the reverse swing generated by Hasan Ali. He made the Kiwi captain flick the ball in the air and it went straight into the short mid-wicket fielder Asad Shafiq’s throat who didn’t miss. This was yet another period where Pakistan dominated by picking quick wickets.
Colin de Grandhomme threw his wicket away once again after scoring a quick-fire 20 while Southee was snaffled soon by Bilal Asif. At 209/7, Pakistan threatened to run away with the game, but Kiwis being the fighters, didn’t give up. The debutant Somerville resisted and Watling was still there at the other end doing his job perfectly.
They made sure that New Zealand didn’t botch up the advantage completely after winning the toss and ended the day on 229/7. The second day will be huge for both the teams as far as the series is concerned and if New Zealand somehow manage to cross 300, we could have a game on in Abu Dhabi with their bowling capable of picking 20 wickets.
Here’s how Twitter reacted during the course of the day’s play:
I actually can’t believe the commentators are talking about @RossLTaylor technique when the ball has gone through about 2 inches off the ground, off a good length, on day one. #PAKvNZ
— Jimmy Neesham (@JimmyNeesh) December 3, 2018
Kane Williamson is on a different level.
— Tasneem-Summer Khan (@summeryael) December 3, 2018
Yasir Shah on a hat-trick,gets Ross Taylor for a duck #PakvNZ
— zainab abbas (@ZAbbasOfficial) December 3, 2018
One of the Best Innings You can see from Overseas Player in Asian Condition. Series On the Line and Captain leading from the Front 👌🏻💪 Well Played Kane👏🏻👏🏻
You Deserve that Hundred💔💔#KaneWilliamson #NZvPAK #PAKvNZ— Cricket Freak❤️ (@Surana9Naveen) December 3, 2018
– this in-drift – the missing sight for some time – makes Yasir Shah doubly dangerous & indeed a treat to watch .. #PakVNZ
— Asif Khan (@mak_asif) December 3, 2018
Hum se Yeh Watling e har match me out nhi hota 😑#PAKvNZ
— Syeda Amarah Zahid (@AmarahZahid) December 3, 2018
Great innings. Running by watling. #PAKvNZ
— anup mahapatra❗ (@am_i_anup) December 3, 2018
You cant be too defensive that after playing 170 balls, you just have a single four in your innings that too off the edge. Bj watling! The current situation demands watling to up the strike rate and make runs in flow, hit some boundaries and put the pressure on bowlers. #PAKvNZ
— Taha Haidery (@taha_haidery) December 3, 2018
So after scoring 89 runs on 176 balls, Kane Williamson hands an easy catch (perhaps due to lapse of concentration) to short mid-wicket. Cricket can be such a cruel game at times. #PAKvNZ
— Ahsan Iftikhar Nagi (@ahsannagi) December 3, 2018
📋Kane Williamson Vs Pak In UAE 2019👇
89
30
28*
37
63Kane Williamson averages 61.75 despite the team's poor show in this Pakistan tour.🏏
#PAKvNZ pic.twitter.com/aVBw47KgaQ— Hasnain Shah (@Shahhasnain69) December 3, 2018
Screaming or appealing#PAKvNZ
— Sunil Singh (@Sunil_1984_) December 3, 2018
Brilliant camera work
Ross Taylor bowled Yasir Shah 0(1)#YasirShah #PAKvNZ pic.twitter.com/rlI0nNCjdF— Zulqarnain Sadiq PTI 🏏 🇵🇰 (@zulqarnainpti1) December 3, 2018
Sarfraz will again rely on his spinners to dismiss Watling tomorrow, who has battled though the day facing 180 deliveries. The NZ batsman played 6.8% false shots against the pacers, but looked comparatively less convincing against the spinners with 14.2% false shots.#PAKvNZ
— The Cricket Prof. (@CricProf) December 3, 2018
Tough day at the office for New Zealand after losing four wickets before lunch. Stumps day one at Abu Dhabi NZ 229/7. Watling 42 Somerville 12. #PAKvNZ
— Rick Eyre on cricket (@rickeyrecricket) December 3, 2018
Given the conditions – sharp turn on day 1 and slowness of the pitch which makes run scoring difficult, this is a pretty even day as NZ denied Pak 10 wickets. #PAKvNZ
— FR414387362 (@fistfuld) December 3, 2018
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