Mount Maunganui: An unbeaten 94 by a gritty Kane Williamson had New Zealand at 222 for three in the face of a concerted Pakistan attack at stumps on day one of the first Test in Mount Maunganui on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Henry Nicholls was the other not out batsman on 42 as New Zealand recovered from being 13 for two after Pakistan\u00b4s baby-faced destroyer Shaheen Afridi removed openers Tom Latham and Tom Blundell cheaply on a green, seaming wicket.<\/p>\n
In a 120-run stand, filled with determination and concentration in difficult conditions, Williamson and Ross Taylor pulled New Zealand back into the game.<\/p>\n
Taylor hit 10 fours and a six as he attacked the bowling while Williams was more conservative.<\/p>\n
After Afridi split the pair with a masterful piece of bowling to remove Taylor for 70, Williamson and Henry Nicholls added a further 89.<\/p>\n
Taylor was set up to fall by Afridi who bowled full, short then a bouncer in successive deliveries and followed with a good-length, rising ball that Taylor could not resist slashing at.<\/p>\n
But he succeeded only in feathering the ball to Mohammad Rizwan behind the stumps.<\/p>\n
The 20-year-old Afridi, with his baby face and standing 1.99 metres (6ft 6in) tall, also removed Latham for four and Blundell for five to end the day with three for 55.<\/p>\n
Mohammad Abbas, while not taking a wicket, kept the batsmen pinned down and conceded only 25 runs off his 21 overs.<\/p>\n
Afridi’s opening onslaught had New Zealand at two for 13 before Williamson and Taylor combined in a century partnership, their 10th together.<\/p>\n
By stumps, Williamson had faced 243 deliveries after being in the middle for all but the first three balls before Latham was dismissed.<\/p>\n
The closest Pakistan came to dismissing the New Zealand captain came before lunch with Williamson on 18 when Shan Masood spilled a difficult one-handed chance low to his left.<\/p>\n
Naseem Shah was the unfortunate bowler and the teenaged quick was to suffer again when he tempted Nicholls, on six, to hook a short ball only for Mohammad Abbas, waiting for the catch at long leg, to drop the regulation chance.<\/p>\n
It was a continuation of the good fortune going Nicholls\u00b4 way after he was dropped five times on his way to 174 in his last innings against the West Indies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Mount Maunganui: An unbeaten 94 by a gritty Kane Williamson had New Zealand at 222<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":359,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\n