Twitter Reactions: Debutant Colin de Grandhomme steamrolls Pakistan

Debutant Colin de Grandhomme claimed 6/41, the best figures by a New Zealander on debut, to ensure a grand start for the hosts against Pakistan on day two of the opening Test at Hagley Oval. Kane Williamson’s decision to bowl first on the green turf proved to be a perfect one as the right fast medium bowler ran through the entire Pakistan batting order to fold them up for a mere 133 runs. Jeet Raval (55 not out) also shined, stroking a half century on debut as he and Henry Nicholls (29 not out) helped New Zealand through to 104-3 at stumps in reply.

The New Zealanders had to wait for a good 12.3 overs before they got the first wicket in the form of Azhar Ali who became De Grandhomme’s maiden Test wicket. But, once the breakthrough was found, De Grandhomme blew away the top order completely. He later added Babar Azam, Younis Khan and Asad Shafiq. Sohail Khan became his fifth victim. And, he then nicked out the last man Rahat Ali for a duck to break Alex Moir’s 65-year-old record.

Captain Misbah ul-Haq’s 31 from 108 balls was the only innings of substance by a Pakistani player. The Black Caps made a shaky start when they started their reply after tea, losing opener Latham (1), Williamson (4) and Taylor (11) cheaply. But Raval and Henry Nicholls steadied the ship with an unbeaten 64-run partnership and helped their team end the day on a pretty comfortable note.

Twitter was absolutely overwhelmed by New Zealand’s performance and there was a huge reaction Here are some the best tweets which totally describes the scenes which occurred at the Hagley Oval.

https://twitter.com/AltCricket/status/799398407240437760

https://twitter.com/rahul_dravid19/status/799461086663733248

https://twitter.com/Cricketracker/status/799490883209101312

https://twitter.com/taimoorz1/status/799488772035506180

https://twitter.com/nibrazramzan/status/799486102218375173