Patience was key for Kane
Ahmedabad, Nov. 7: The way India capitulated in the final session of the fourth day’s play here on Sunday puts the 137 from New Zealand middle-order batsman Kane Williamson in sharp perspective. Here is a 20-year-old lad, born and bred on green pitches back home, facing and overwhelming Harbhajan Singh and Co. on the subcontinent for more than a day’s worth of Test cricket. That too on debut.
The youngster was the only one to have scored a ton in the recent one-day series in Bangladesh which the Kiwis lost 0-4, but the knock had preceded three consecutive ducks. What changed in a fortnight?
“Confidence and loads of patience. In Bangladesh I was very nervous, and there were time when I completely froze,” said Williamson in the post-play briefing. “I said to myself, hang on, if I’m going to get out anyways, I might as well be confident while doing it.”
Williamson became the youngest New Zealand cricketer to score a century on debut on Sunday, and the eighth Kiwi to achieve such a feat. “We knew before coming here we have to face top class spin bowling. Patience was the key. We had prepared very hard for it and it has paid off,” he added. Williamson was a calm presence at the crease, batting for more than six and a half hours and hitting 10 fours in his 299-ball stint.
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