Kane Williamson (153*) and Henry Nicholls (138*) stretched their unbroken partnership to a record 329 runs as New Zealand continued to dominate the proceedings on the third morning of the Christchurch Test, taking a 103-run lead by Lunch.
Nicholls moved into his 90s with the first runs of the morning after Pakistan opened with three maidens on the trot. Kane Williamson deservingly helped the home team march into the lead in the expensive Shaheen Afridi over before Mohammad Abbas was left frustrated yet again as Azhar Ali shelled a regulation chance at gully to reprieve Nicholls once again, this time on 92.
The duo then kept ticking off the milestones, adding to Pakistan’s frustration. Nicholls raised his seventh Test century with a beautiful drive through the covers off Abbas in his following over. At 272 runs, the pair had recorded the best fourth wicket partnership ever for New Zealand, and at 293, it was the best partnership in any Test at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch. Upon adding 11 runs to his overnight score of 112, Williamson ticked off another milestone in his illustrated career as he became only the third New Zealand batsman to climb the 7000-run peak in Test cricket.
Nicholls, batting with a hamstring niggle, stepped on the accelerator right after reaching triple figures. He took a liking to the directionless bowling of Naseem Shah and Faheem Ashraf with a flurry of boundaries to quickly catch up with his skipper and take New Zealand past 350 in their first innings. Williamson raised the 300 of their partnership, extending their domination over Pakistan bowlers, shortly before reaching his 150.
A clip down to long-on for a single right at the stroke of lunch brought up the 400 for New Zealand, stretching their lead to 103 with seven wickets still intact. In a session dominated by stats and numbers, the most worrying one for Pakistan was that the hosts had added 114 runs at more than four runs an over – a sign of just how difficult it might get for their batsmen, even on a pitch that’s got no demons, if their bowlers don’t get their act together now.
Brief scores: New Zealand 400/3 ( Kane Williamson 153*, Henry Nicholls 138*) lead Pakistan 297, by 103 runs.
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