NZ vs PAK, 2020-21: 1st Test, Day 1 – Rizwan’s captaincy debut, A record fifty for Williamson and more stats

New Zealand made a steady start to the Test series against Pakistan as they made 222/3 by stumps on the first day of the Mount Maunganui Test. Shaheen Shah Afridi struck twice in the first hour to send back both the home team openers but the senior pair of Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor turned up for the crisis. Taylor put an end to his rough patch scoring 70 before getting out to Shaheen. Williamson ensured the Kiwis didn’t lose any more wickets with an unbeaten 94 by put on 89* for the 4th wicket with Henry Nicholls (42*).

Here are all the statistical highlights from the opening day of the NZ vs PAK Test series:

Rizwan turns Test captain:

9 – Mohammad Rizwan makes his captaincy debut in Test cricket with an experience of playing only 9 Test matches. He is now the 3rd least experienced captain of Pakistan in the longer format. Abdul Kardar, the Pakistan captain in their inaugural Test had already played three Tests for India while Javed Burki played eight Tests before in captaincy debut in 1962.

Taylor on to the top:

438 – Ross Taylor, with 438 matches for New Zealand, became the most capped player for the Blackcaps in International cricket. He went past Daniel Vettori who has played as many as 437 International games for the Kiwis. Vettori does have 442 International caps to his name having played five matches for the ICC World XI.

A record fifty for Williamson:

55 – Kane Williamson now has 55 fifty-plus scores in Test cricket; the joint-most by any player for New Zealand. Stephen Fleming also recorded 55 scores of 50+ runs in his Test career for the Blackcaps. Ross Taylor is next on the list with 53 scores in excess of 50 runs.

The 70-run knock on Saturday was Taylor’s 27th 50+ score in Test cricket on New Zealand soil; the joint 2nd most for a player. Williamson leads the list with 30 such scores while Brendon McCullum also has 27 Test 50+ scores in New Zealand.

15 – Williamson’s 94* is his 15th score of 50+ runs in Test cricket as captain on home soil. These are now the most number of 50+ scores by a New Zealand captain at home in Test cricket surpassing Stephen Fleming’s 14 fifty-plus scores.

Yet another century stand for Kane-Ross pair:

10 – The duo of Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor is now the first pair from New Zealand to share as many as 10 century partnerships in Test cricket. They are also the 7th pair to 10 or more century stands in both Test and ODI formats.

Poor start to the series for New Zealand:

1956 – Only the 3rd time both openers of New Zealand registered single digits scores in the very first innings of a home Test series. The 1932 series against South Africa (Christchurch) and the 1956 series against West Indies (Dunedin) being the other two such series for the Blackcaps.