Williamson shines with another half century, but England asserts dominance on day 3 of 1st test

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand — Kane Williamson showcased his resilience, registering his second half-century of the match and surpassing the milestone of 9,000 test runs on Saturday. Despite New Zealand facing a tough challenge against England's dominance, Williamson's standout performance added a glimmer of hope to their faltering resistance on the third day of the first test.

Williamson followed his first innings 93 with 61 and was one of five batsmen to fall before New Zealand erased England's 151-run first innings lead.

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transform: rotate(32deg); animation: shinerMooving 3s infinite; z-index: 1; filter: blur(1px); } @keyframes shinerMooving { 0% { left: -40px; } 100% { left: 150%; } } Top 15 buys at IPL 2025 Auction Rishabh Pant ₹ 27 Cr DC LSG Total Match 111 Total Runs 3284 Highest Score 128 runs Shreyas Iyer ₹ 26.75 Cr KKR PBKS Total Match 115 Total Runs 3127 Highest Score 96 runs Venkatesh Iyer ₹ 23.75 Cr KKR KKR Total Match 50 Total Runs 1326 Highest Score 104 runs Wickets 3 Best Bowling 2/29 Arshdeep Singh ₹ 18 Cr PBKS PBKS Total Match 65 Total Runs 29 Highest Score 10 runs Wickets 76 Best Bowling 5/32 Yuzvendra Chahal ₹ 18 Cr RR PBKS Total Match 260 Total Runs 37 Highest Score 8 runs Wickets 205 Best Bowling 5/40 Jos Buttler ₹ 15.75 Cr RR GT Total Match 107 Total Runs 3582 Highest Score 124 runs KL Rahul ₹ 14 Cr LSG DC Total Match 132 Total Runs 4683 Highest Score 132 runs Trent Boult ₹ 12.50 Cr RR MI Total Match 104 Total Runs 83 Highest Score 17 runs Wickets 121 Best Bowling 4/18 Jofra Archer ₹ 12.50 Cr MI RR Total Match 35 Total Runs 195 Highest Score 27 runs Wickets 46 Best Bowling 3/15 Josh Hazlewood ₹ 12.50 Cr RCB RCB Total Match 12 Total Runs - Highest Score - Wickets 12 Best Bowling 3/24 Mohammed Siraj ₹ 12.25 Cr RCB GT Total Match 93 Total Runs 109 Highest Score 14 runs Wickets 93 Best Bowling 4/21 Mitchell Starc ₹ 11.75 Cr KKR DC Total Match 41 Total Runs 105 Highest Score 29 runs Wickets 51 Best Bowling 4/15 Phil Salt ₹ 11.50 Cr DC RCB Total Match 21 Total Runs 653 Highest Score 89 runs Ishan Kishan ₹ 11.25 Cr MI SRH Total Match 105 Total Runs 2644 Highest Score 99 runs Wickets - Best Bowling - Jitesh Sharma ₹ 11 Cr PBKS RCB Total Match 40 Total Runs 730 Highest Score 49 runs Check Full Coverage

At stumps, New Zealand was 155-6, four runs ahead and with only bowlers yet to bat. Daryl Mitchell was 31 not out and Nathan Smith was on one. Brydon Carse had 3-22 and seven wickets for the match.

England applied ‘Bazball’ principles to take charge of the match almost from the resumption Saturday, dashing past New Zealand's first innings of 348 and building a commanding first innings lead at almost six runs per over.

Harry Brook resumed at 132 and went on to 171 in a 159-run partnership with Ben Stokes who was 37 not out overnight and finished with 80.

Dashing late contributions from Gus Atkinson who made 48 from 26 balls and Carse who made 33 from 24 with three monstrous sixes piled more pain on New Zealand late in its innings as it made 499 all out.

In total, England added 180 runs in 33 overs Saturday at a tempo set by Brook who posted his seventh century and third-highest score in tests and Stokes who reached his 35th half century from 105 balls, then added his next 30 runs from 41 deliveries.

New Zealand then lost both openers, Tom Latham and Devon Conway , with only 23 runs on the board and Rachin Ravindra with 46 runs still needed to erase England's lead. Ravindra continues to show enormous promise but was out to rash shots in both innings.

Williamson provided an example of application to the rest of the New Zealand top order, continuing in his usual unflappable manner even after he was struck on the helmet by Stokes when on 26.

In contrast, Ravindra was lured into an unnecessary shot at a short ball by Carse, knowing that the trap had been set and was sprung when he was caught in the deep by Jacob Bethell.

Williamson passed 9,000 test runs in his 103rd test at an average of 54 when he reached 26. He went on to a half century from 74 balls when New Zealand was 117-3.

He was out with the total at 133-4, trapped lbw by Chris Woakes, and wicketkeeper Tom Blundell was caught behind next ball as New Zealand slumped to 133-5, still 18 runs behind England.

Mitchell and Phillips finally erased the England lead in the 45th over, 20 minutes before stumps. But Phillips fell for 19 shortly before the close of play when New Zealand was 153-6, its lead only two runs and with only the bowlers to come.

Earlier, Brook was helped again Saturday by New Zealand's poor catching. He was dropped for the fifth time in his innings, by Glenn Phillips at gully from the bowling of Will O'Rourke, when he was 132.

Brook was dropped four times on the second day: on 18 by Phillips in the gully, on 41 by Tom Latham at first slip, on 70 by Devon Conway in the deep and on 112 by wicketkeeper Tom Blundell off Matt Henry.

He was finally out, caught by Blundell from the bowling of Matt Henry, in the sixth over of the second new ball when England was 381-6. Brooks had come to the crease when England was 45-3 before lunch on day two.

He turned around England's innings in a 151-run partnership with Ollie Pope and led his team into a dominant position with Stokes.

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