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CHRISTCHURCH: Kane Williamson’s fourth double century put his side in a commanding position at the end of day-three of the second Test against Pakistan being played at the Hagley Oval on Tuesday.
The New Zealand captain made a brilliant 238 as he stroked 28 boundaries from the 364 balls he faced. Resuming at the overnight score of 286 for three, the Williamson-Henry Nicholls partnership blossomed further as Nicholls registered his seventh Test century. The left-handed batsman reached the 100-run landmark off 212 balls with the help of 10 fours.
Pakistan made a breakthrough when Nicholls was dismissed for 157 by Mohammad Abbas. He faced 291 balls and hit 18 fours and one six in his innings. He added 369 runs for the fourth-wicket with Williamson, the highest partnership in Tests between New Zealand and Pakistan. Soon after wicketkeeper BJ Watling was dismissed by Shaheen Shah Afridi.
A 133-run partnership for the sixth-wicket between Williamson and Daryl Mitchell, who crunched his maiden Test century and was unbeaten on 102. Mitchell smashed eight fours and one six in his undefeated 122-ball stay.
Williamson on the other hand kept scoring at a brisk rate and reached his 200 off 327 balls (24 fours). His stay at the crease came to an end before Tea when he was caught by Shan Masood on the third man boundary off Faheem Ashraf.
Pakistan had a 354-run second innings trail with nine wickets in hand at the close of play. Shan Masood was the only wicket to fall in the 11 overs bowled as Kyle Jamieson, who recorded a five-fer in the first innings induced an edge of the left-hander’s bat to be caught by Time Southee in the slip cordon. Abid Ali and Mohammad Abbas will begin Pakistan’s fightback on the penultimate day of the match.
Scores in brief
Pakistan 297 all out, 83.5 overs (Azhar Ali 93, Mohammad Rizwan 61, Faheem Ashraf 48; Kyle Jamieson 5-69, Tim Southee 2-61, Trent Boult 2-82) and 8-1, 11 overs (Abid Ali 7 not out; Kyle Jamieson 1-1)
New Zealand 659-6, 158.5 overs (Kane Williamson 238, Henry Nicholls 157, Daryl Mitchell 102 not out; Mohammad Abbas 2-98, Shaheen Shah Afridi 2-101, Faheem Ashraf 2-106)
