Twitter Reactions: West Indies openers survive tricky period after Kane Williamson's 251 leads New Zealand to 519

Williamson batted for 412 deliveries to score 251 runs in the first innings.

By Aditya Gajanan Kukalyekar verified

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Kane Williamson
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Kane Williamson. (Photo Source: Twitter)

New Zealand had ended the first day of the ongoing Test match against the West Indies in Hamilton on 243/2 with their skipper Kane Williamson close to his 22nd ton. He had Ross Taylor at the other end assisting him as well and the hosts would’ve hoped to put up a mammoth total on the board in the first innings. And that is what they did thanks to their captain.

Shannon Gabriel started the day on a good note for the visitors by nipping out the veteran Ross Taylor while Kemar Roach got his line right to send back Henry Nicholls. At 281/4, West Indies were right in the game only for Williamson to take it away from them. He first got to his well deserved century early in the morning and then batted patiently when a couple of wickets.

He first stitched a 72-run stand with Tom Blundell who scored only 14 runs. The Kiwi skipper led from the front churning out boundaries with his deft touches and backfoot punches. The lower middle-order batsmen continued to lose their wickets with even Daryl Mitchell, filling in for Colin de Grandhomme, also could muster only nine runs.

But he managed to hang around to add 56 runs for sixth wickets with Williamson taking the lead. Accordingly, scoring quickly as the day progressed, the New Zealand captain came close to his third double century and eventually went past the magical number as well. After the fall of sixth wicket, Kyle Jamieson and played his shots without much fear leaving West Indies bowlers frustrated.

At the other end, Kane Williamson continued to look solid even after batting for so many hours. But he got out soon after crossing the huge 250-run mark in quest of adding some quick runs on the board. Alzarri Joseph dismissed him for 251 off 412 balls with 34 fours and a couple of sixes. Meanwhile, Jamieson got to his half-century and then New Zealand declared at a mammoth total of 519/7. For the tourists, Roach and Gabriel were the best bowlers who picked three wickets each.

West Indies openers battle hard

After staying in the field for 145 overs, the West Indies openers Kraigg Brathwaite and John Campbell came out to bat. New Zealand’s four-pronged pace attack led by Trent Boult and Tim Southee would’ve hoped to strike early. But both the batsmen showed great heart to defy them. It was a game of patience right through with both the parties playing the waiting game for the other to make a mistake.

No wonder it was an exhilarating session of play with West Indies finally showing some fight with the bat. The new ball swung a bit, Jamieson’s pace got them hopping around while Neil Wagner also tried his bodyline bowling at the fag end. But both Brathwaite and Campbell didn’t give up and kept fighting and they have already crossed the 20-run mark. The visitors will just hope that the duo continues to score runs on a flat deck on the third day as well.

West Indies ended the day on 49/0 after 26 overs and the dressing room was delighted with their courageous display. Their aim will now be too make the most of the conditions and look to get close to the opposition’s total somehow.

Here’s how Twitter reacted:

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