Latham, Williamson put hosts on top on opening day

NEW DELHI: Skipper Kane Williamson and opener Tom Latham on Thursday scored brilliant half centuries as New Zealand dominated the proceedings on the opening day of the first Test against West Indies being played at the Seddon Park.

At the end of the day’s play, the Black Caps were nicely placed 243/2 with Williamson and Ross Taylor batting at the crease on 97 and 31 respectively.

Earlier, West Indies skipper Jason Holder won the toss and elected to field on a pitch which seemed to have a lot of assistance for the pacers. His decision did prove right as Shannon Gabriel drew first blood, sending Will Young back to the dressing room after the debutant scored five runs from 11 balls.

Williamson who came in next, then steadied the ship and along with Latham made sure the hosts didn’t lose any more wickets in the next one session. The duo stitched a 154-run partnership during which the two batsmen kept the scoreboard ticking at a nice pace.

West Indies bowlers, however, came back strongly in the final session and showed a lot more consistency in their lengths bowling full, at the stumps, and asking pertinent questions.

Latham fell to one such good ball bowled by Kemar Roach as he got cleaned up through the gate while trying to play booming drive away from his body after scoring 86 runs.

Taylor, who came in next, made sure the visitors didn’t make any further inroads as along with the skipper, he added 75 runs to the scoreboard to take the team’s score to 243/2 at Stumps. Williamson is just three short of what would be his 22nd Test hundred.

After dominating the opening day of the first Test at Seddon Park on Thursday, New Zealand opener Tom Latham said that West Indies bowled well in periods but could not stick to those lengths for long which allowed the hosts to score runs.

Latham played an 86-run knock and guided the side to a solid position after losing Will Young (5) early in the innings. At stumps, New Zealand’s score read 243/2 with Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor at the crease. While the skipper was unbeaten on 97, giving him company was senior campaigner Taylor on 31. “The danger for me was driving the ball on the up and bring the slips into play. They obviously bowled well in periods and bowled a lot of dots to me and Kane but it was nice to try and overcome those periods and seek some little rewards after that,” Latham told the host broadcaster after the day’s play.

Brief Scores: New Zealand 243/2 after 78 overs (Kane Williamson 97*, Tom Latham 86; Kemar Roach 1/53)