‘It’s Right Up There’ – Williamson on Win Against England in First Test

After New Zealand defeated hosts England by an innings and 65 runs in the first Test at the Bay Oval, New Zealand captain Kane Williamson said that the win was “right up there” among their best Test wins, for how they came back into the match.

In response to England’s first innings total of 353, the hosts rose to the challenge and made a massive 615/9 declared, which gave their bowlers enough cushion to eventually bowl the visitors out. Neil Wagner was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 5/44, and England were all-out for 197.

“To lose the toss and be 350 behind in the first innings required something special,” Williamson said. “And it was something special for 200 overs to get us into a position which gave us a chance. To get 600 gave us that opportunity to bowl last on that wicket, so a huge amount of credit goes to the way the middle-order built those partnerships. That was really important because they put in a lot of overs in that first innings. For the guys to freshen up proved really important without Trent as a resource.



“The pitch started to deteriorate which is what you want to see in Test cricket. But when you do see that you want to have won the toss. This is certainly right up there in terms of a tough, grinding Test victory.”

BJ Watling made a sensational double ton (205 off 473 balls) and was patient at the crease, involved in a 261-run-stand for the seventh wicket with Mitchell Santner, much to the frustration of the English bowlers. Williamson, who was dismissed shortly after he reached his fifty was all praise for Watling’s innings.

“Scores of 50 and 60 weren’t enough to turn the momentum from England’s first innings,” said Williamson. “It did require something large and for a long period of time and that’s what those guys did. It was a brilliant effort against a very strong England bowling attack. It was outstanding to see that middle, lower-order apply themselves like that. BJ Watling is such a tough competitor and just cares about getting the team into a position to win cricket games.

“It goes a long way to him applying himself for near on 500 balls, which is an amazing effort. A lot of people wish they could bat 500 balls, including myself. It was a brilliant, brilliant performance and it took a huge amount of hard work scoring at two-and-a-half an over for the most part so it wasn’t free flowing. For BJ and Mitch to keep soaking up that pressure was outstanding and something that is clearly very hard to do for everybody.”

Towards the end of the match, Williamson left the field with a hip injury, and with the hosts sweating over the fitness of Trent Boult as well, Williamson said that it’s important to assess everyone’s physical condition before the Hamilton Test which begins on November 29th.

“A lot was taken out of both teams in this Test,” Williamson said. “It was a really tough effort for long periods. But we have that squad of 15 and all the guys will meet up in Hamilton and we will have to assess the fitness of everybody.”