Kane Williamson
Flickr photo by Aftab Uzzaman shared under a Creative Commons (BY-NC 2.0) license.

Kane Williamson: NZ captain steps up to create history

Mustafa Ismail·
Test
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After 49 years, New Zealand finally managed to win an away series against Pakistan. A huge portion of the credit goes to Kane Williamson,  who played a crucial knock and captained his side to glory…

At the start of the series, Pakistan were considered outright favourites. It wasn’t only because they were playing at home but also because New Zealand didn’t have world-class spinners or batsmen, apart from Kane Williamson, who could manoeuvre through spin bowling. Evidently, the one thing the Kiwis did have was the will to fight at any cost and make things difficult for Pakistan. We saw that fight in the first Test when Pakistan needed under 50 runs to win with seven wickets in hand – but somehow, New Zealand managed to sneak a miraculous victory.

In the second Test, Pakistan dominated as Yasir Shah tormented the opposition’s batsmen. It seemed as New Zealand would struggle to even tie the series. And when New Zealand found themselves in hot water during the second innings of the third Test, all hope seemed lost. At 60-4 with a lead of just five runs, their captain put his hand up and played the innings of his life to take New Zealand out of a losing position and strengthen their chances of winning the series. With Henry Nicholls supporting him, Williamson played beautifully. The right-hander was very assured in defence and selective in attack as he frustrated the Pakistani bowlers.

Yasir Shah was unarguably the best bowler during the series – but even he was struggling to break the partnership as Williamson and Nicholls refused to give an inch and rotated the strike to keep the scoreboard ticking. Williamson has been New Zealand’s best batsman for a few years now and has been compared to the likes of Virat Kohli, Steve Smith and Joe Root. If there were any doubts over his credentials, this innings puts him right up there as one of the best batsmen in the world. To play in conditions like those in the UAE is a tough ask for foreign batsmen, and to score a century in the situation New Zealand were in is testament to how talented and headstrong Kane Williamson is.

Let’s not forget Nicholls, who stood by his captain throughout and allowed Williamson to play the big shots by anchoring the partnership. At the end of day four, the match was heading towards a draw but a remarkable display of hitting by the Kiwi batsmen early on day five allowed New Zealand to get to a score which they could defend. That was exactly what happened as the New Zealand pacers made early inroads and laid the platform for the spinners to come in and attack the Pakistani batsmen. Pakistan could not withstand the pressure and eventually folded for 156, giving New Zealand a massive series win.

England recently won a series in Sri Lanka, but this has to be one of the best wins by a foreign team in the subcontinent given Pakistan’s imperious bowling in the UAE. New Zealand have surprised everyone and have proven their credentials by clinching an away series against strong opposition, which has been a rare occurrence in the last few years. Kane Williamson captained his side brilliantly, remaining patient and calm under pressure. The entire team played their heart out and were eventually rewarded for their persistence.

Pakistan will be hugely disappointed as this was a good challenge for them and they had multiple opportunities to assert themselves. In all three Tests, Sarfaraz Ahmed’s men were in winning positions, only to let go of that advantage twice and find themselves on the losing end of the series. The Pakistani captain will be under the scanner as this is the second series that they have lost at home in the last couple of years, with the memory of an unexpected loss to Sri Lanka still fresh in the minds of fans and critics alike. Even so, Pakistan do possess a side capable of overcoming any challenge – but will need to be more consistent with both bat and ball if they want to live up to expectations or continue the progress made under Misbah’s tutelage.