Twitter Reactions: New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson on the cusp of 22nd Test hundred after 1st day against West Indies

Only the seventh Test after the resumption of international cricket post COVID-19 enforced break, began at the Seddon Park in Hamilton on Thursday. New Zealand and West Indies locked horns and as expected, the pitch was the talking point as a lot of grass was left on it. Accordingly the visiting skipper Jason Holder won the toss and opted to bowl first and he might have already started ruing his decision.

Persistent rain washed out the first session of the day but play began after lunch time. The new ball swung a lot to keep the batsmen on the tenterhooks. Shannon Gabriel was quick to taste the success as he pinned the debutant Will Young in front of the stumps. But that turned out to be the only breakthrough for the tourists for next 50 overs.

Tom Latham and New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson played out the new ball bravely and then collected run taking toll of the loose balls. West Indies bowlers were also of not sticking to the line and length consistently and paid a heavy price for the same. Latham was the aggressor early on and got to his half-century as well.

The visitors were also guilty of not appealing when the southpaw had edged one to the keeper off the toe-end of the bat just before the tea break. But the bowler Jason Holder and keeper Shane Dowrich didn’t even seem interested to appeal even as the slip cordon went up vociferously only to be ignored by the skiper. Latham grabbed the opportunity and batted well.

Kane Williamson oozes class yet again

At the other end, Kane Williamson was simply looking class apart. He sumptuous drives and backfoot punches kept the viewers interested on an otherwise slow proceedings in Hamilton. Latham and Williamson put New Zealand in a commanding position with a 154-run partnership. Just when the former was looking good to get to his well-deserved ton, Kemar Roach breached his defence to shatter his stumps.

There were plenty of plays and misses on the day, especially off Shannon Gabriel, but the West Indies were unlucky to not get more wickets on the day. Ross Taylor looked solid during his stay while Williamson controlled the innings well. He smashed 16 fours and remained unbeaten on 97, only three adrift of 22nd Test ton of his career. Taylor scored 31* off 61 balls as the duo added an unbeaten on 75 for the third wicket.

Only 78 overs of play was possibly due to the rain earlier in the day with New Zealand finishing strongly on 243/2 at stumps. The tourists bowled their hearts out but also sprayed around a bit to offer some easy runs. They will be hoping to nip out some quick wickets on the second morning while the Kiwis will look to post a huge first innings total now.

Here’s how Twitter reacted: