London: Kane Williamson’s unbeaten 92 rounded off a fine day’s work for New Zealand in the first Test against England at Lord’s on Friday.The Black Caps ended the second day well-placed at 303 for 2, just 86 runs behind England’s first innings 389. Williamson and Ross Taylor (47 not out) had so far shared an unbroken stand of 155 after coming together when the tourists had lost two wickets with their score on 148.
But Williamson was given a reprieve late in the day when he went down the pitch to off-spinner Moeen Ali on 92 only for Jos Buttler, still more of a batsman than a wicketkeeper, to miss the stumping chance, albeit the ball spun sharply. Now the stylish number three will hope to avoid the fate of England duo Joe Root and Ben Stokes, both out in the 90s on Thursday.
Earlier, Martin Guptill made 70 in his first Test in two years and was well-supported by Tom Latham (59) during what was just New Zealand’s fifth century opening partnership in a Test in England.
England found life tough, with captain Alastair Cook not often straying from orthodox field settings.
The 24-year-old Williamson drove down the ground impressively and also used the cut shot to good effect in the first of this two-match series. His fifty came in good time, off 78 balls with six fours. England resumed on 354 for seven, having been 30 for four on Thursday before a fifth-wicket stand of 161 between Root (98) and Stokes (92) revived the innings.
Scorecard
England 1st innings (o/n 354/7): A. Lyth c Watling b Southee 7, A. Cook c Watling b Henry 16, G. Ballance c Southee b Boult 1, I. Bell b Henry 1, J. Root c Latham b Henry 98, B. Stokes b Craig 92, J. Buttler lbw b Boult 67, M. Ali c Latham b Boult 58, S. Broad c Latham b Boult 3, M. Wood not out 8, J. Anderson c & b Henry 11. Extras: (b16, lb6, w2, nb3) 27. Total: (in 100.5 overs) 389.
FoW: 1-17, 2-25, 3-25, 4-30, 5-191, 6-251, 7-354, 8-363, 9-368, 10-389.
Bowling: Boult 29-6-79-4; Southee 24-1-104-1 (3nb, 1w); Henry 24.5-3-93-4 (1w); Craig 18-2-77-1; Anderson 5-1-14-0
New Zealand 1st innings: M. Guptill c Ballance b Broad 70, T. Latham lbw b Ali 59, K. Williamson (batting) 92, R. Taylor (batting) 47. Extras: (b-14, lb-20, nb-1) 26. Total: (for 2 wkts, in 77 overs) 303
FoW: 1-148, 2-148.
Bowling: James Anderson 16-4-46-0, Stuart Broad 16-2-42-1, Wood 13-0-60-0, Ben Stokes 13-2-63-0, Ali 17-3-52-1, Joe Root 2-0-6-0
