Twitter Reactions: Kane Williamson, Lockie Ferguson shine as New Zealand take 1-0 lead

New Zealand continued their domination over Bangladesh even in T20 series and registered a comprehensive victory in the first T20I at McLean Park in Napier to take a 1-0 lead in the 3 match series. Lockie Ferguson and captain Kane Williamson were the star performers for the Kiwis with three wickets and a beautiful half century to their name respectively.

Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza won the toss and opted to bat. Bangladesh got off to the worst possible start as they lost Imrul Kayes only in the 2nd over. At the score of 28 the hard-hitting southpaw, Tamim Iqbal was dismissed by Ben Wheeler with a beautiful delivery. Two more wickets fell in a space of 4 deliveries as the visitors lost the plot and were tottering at 30/4. Despite losing wickets at regular intervals it wasn’t the end of the road as far as the visitors were concerned.

Mahmudullah scored a fluent half-century and was supported well by Mosaddek Hossain Saikat batting lower down the order. Their efforts meant the visitors managed to post a competitive 141 in their allotted 20 overs.

Captain Kane Williamson and Neil Broom started off proceedings for the hosts. Broom who scored a century in the final ODI fell to Rubel Hossain in the 3rd over and cutter specialist Mustafizur Rahman added one more in a matter of minutes to reduce the hosts to 28/2. Despite wickets falling at the other end, Williamson kept going and remained unbeaten to ensure New Zealand win the match quite comprehensively in the end.

Also read – NZ v BAN, 1st T20I Review: Kiwis ride on Kane Williamson half-century to complete hard-fought win

Williamson shared an unbeaten 81 runs partnership with Colin de Grandhomme for the 6th wicket to ensure the hosts reached the target without further hiccups. While Williamson remained unbeaten on 73, Grandhomme scored a fluent 41.

Twitteratti was pretty active during the first T20I and there were certain tweets which described the proceedings in the best possible way. Here are some of the best tweets from the 1st encounter at Napier

My shirt says 'WILLAMSON' tonight because there's no i in team. Apart from the first i because that's my name. I'm still working on it

— Kane Williamson (@NotNossy) January 3, 2017

It's also a Target for you word puzzle fans (let me know if you get the 9 letter word)

W I L
L A M
S O N

— Kane Williamson (@NotNossy) January 3, 2017

Kane Williamson registers his highest T20I score and wins the man of the match award. pic.twitter.com/xMcm0CCpa8

— CricTracker (@Cricketracker) January 3, 2017

Kane Williamson has 1000 international Twenty20 runs! 34 innings. Only four players in the world have done it faster. #NZvBAN ^BM pic.twitter.com/AhPJFKOvxz

— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) January 3, 2017

The fate changing overs –
Over # 14 – 12 runs
Over # 15 – 15 runs
Over # 16 – 17 runs

Williamson: 73(55), Grandhomme: 41(22) #NZvBAN

— Cricbuzz (@cricbuzz) January 3, 2017

Victory for the @BLACKCAPS as Grand Homme Designs crushes it into the stands!!! See you all at the Mount on Friday! #NZvBAN pic.twitter.com/OtRbKSCxBe

— The ACC (@TheACCnz) January 3, 2017

Ths Willamson kd can play.#steadytheshp#NZvBAN

— Mike Thorpe (@MikeThorpeTVNZ) January 3, 2017

Not great form to misspell the captain's name on his own jersey #SteadyTheShip #NZvBAN @TheACCnz pic.twitter.com/BOJ643WnIt

— Andy Baird (@andy_engineer) January 3, 2017

New year, new format, but Bangladesh's woes in New Zealand continue. They slump to their fourth successive loss in New Zealand !! #NZvBAN

— Manikanta Aravind? (@Ma_aravind) January 3, 2017

Ended up more competitive than feared early – but had the feel NZ were in control through most of the game… #nzvban

— Innocent Bystander (@InnoBystander) January 3, 2017

Kane Williamson scores more while opening in t20Is than coming at no. 3 in ODIs.#NZvBAN

— Aneesh Chandoke (@AneeshChandoke) January 3, 2017

Whichever may be the format , Williamson never fails to deliver. #NZvBAN

— CHIRAG (@chiragkk) January 3, 2017

Hope this was Soumya Sarkar's last match on this tour ? #NZvBAN

— Saimon (@SaimonK13) January 3, 2017

Lockie Ferguson sent back Sabbir Rahman and Soumya Sarkar in two straight balls. #NZvBAN pic.twitter.com/urnYzgRV6z

— CricTracker (@Cricketracker) January 3, 2017

Hey @BCBtigers match to tum tab hi haar gaye jab Soumya Sarkar boundry ke itne andar khada ho gaya tha mungfali bechne ke liye.

— ️Silly Point (@FarziCricketer) January 3, 2017

How can Bangladesh say that Soumya Sarkar is their best young batting talent ? #BanvNz

— Bilal ( ‏بلال )? (@Ahmadbilal111) January 3, 2017

You had one job! #nzvban pic.twitter.com/SLFvxVnDLk

— Cricketmemes_ (@Cricketmemes2) January 3, 2017

Captain Fantastic! Kane Williamson is named Man of the Match after his match-winning 73*! https://t.co/4pXjiKm1Oj #NZvBan pic.twitter.com/asPdENyNcK

— ICC (@ICC) January 3, 2017