Kane Williamson Falls Short of Century in Comeback Test Against England

On the first day of New Zealand’s first Test match against England, the kiwi star Kane Williamson missed his 33rd Test century by just 7 runs. Kane played his last test match against Sri Lanka in September 2024 and later missed the subsequent series against India. However, the 34-year-old made a great comeback at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch and scored 93 runs in 197 balls. 

After the dismissal of Devon Conway in the beginning, Kane Williamson came out to bat at number three. From the beginning of his innings, Williamson looked good and built a partnership with Tom Latham. He found gaps with great accuracy and never appeared to be in trouble, while other batsmen like Rachin Ravindra and Daryl Mitchell failed to convert their starts.

During the last session, Williamson was poised to reach his 20th Test century in New Zealand. But for the first time since 2018, the former New Zealand Test Captain got out in the nervous 90s. Williamson’s last Test century came against South Africa in February 2024 and hit some significant runs in this series. For New Zealand to advance to the WTC final, the three Test matches are also crucial.

The Kiwis recently whitewashed India in the 3 match test series and now have a possibility of reaching the World Test Championship final. Meanwhile, England is coming off a series loss against Pakistan and will look to bounce back in the ongoing series against New Zealand. 

New Zealand and England are currently facing each other in the first match of the three test match series. The first test began on November 28, Thursday, in the Hagley Oval stadium of New Zealand. England won the toss and chose to bowl first. Day 1 of the test has reached the last session and NZ is currently on 271/7. Shoaib Basir took three wickets, while Gut Atkinson and Brydon Carse got two wickets each.