Kane Williamson’s epic reply to Ramiz Raja’s ‘49-year wait’ leaves Twitter in splits

New Zealand stunned Pakistan in the three-Test away series by winning the third and final match in Abu Dhabi by 123 runs and register a scoreline of 2-1. This was their first win in an away series against the Asian powerhouse after 49 years and their captain Kane Williamson, one of the key architects behind this historic win, came up with an epic reply when reminded of this long wait by former Pakistan captain Rameez Raja.

Williamson scored a magnificent 139 followed by 89 in the match in which Pakistan looked strong till the fourth day. The Kiwis conceded a 74-run lead in the first innings but came back strongly in the second innings with the help of centuries from Williamson and Henry Nicholls and then bowl out the home team for 156 after setting a target of 280 for them on the final day.

Debutant William Somerville took three wickets in the second essay to back his four-for in the first to floor the Pakistani batsmen. Left-arm spinner Ajaz Patel who made his debut in this series also took five wickets.

NZ’s last record of beating Pakistan in Pakistan

In the presentation ceremony after the match, Raza asked the Man of the Match Williamson about his “wait for 49 years for this moment” to which the 28-year-old New Zealand captain said, “I didn’t wait for 49 years” before breaking into laughter.

When the last time New Zealand had won a Test series in Asia (in Sri Lanka in 1983-84), their veteran batsman Ross Taylor was just three weeks old. None of the other members of the squad were born, including Williamson. The last time the Kiwis won a Test series in Pakistan came in 1969-70 when Graham Dowling’s side won a three-match series 1-0. In fact, Raza himself was seven-years-old when that instance happened.

New Zealand’s victory in the Test series meant they ended the tour on a high note as they were thumped 3-0 in the T20I series while the ODI series ended 1-1 with the deciding game getting washed out.

The Twitterati loved Williamson’s reply to Raza and reactions poured in thick and fast:

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