New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson is frustrated with the fact that the Black Caps couldn’t unroot the record-breaking partnership between Angelo Mathews and Kusal Mendis despite having tried everything, eventually, Sri Lanka managed to draw the first Test in at Wellington on Wednesday.
It was really a frustrating and challenging Sri Lanka’s second innings for Williamson, as he has seen a lot in his 352 games of international cricket, but he failed to come out with an ultimate idea to get rid of Mendis and Mathews, who added an undefeated 274-run stand which costs them Wellington Test.
However, there was a little assistance for Lanka from rain on the final day of the first Test of the two-match Test series, but Mendis (141*) and Mathews (120*) were fantastic with the willow to block Kiwi’s victory despite being declared at 578 in Wellington.
With the record-breaking stand, Sri Lanka became the first test side to go a whole day without losing a wicket in New Zealand, gave serious headaches to Williamson, who brilliantly managed the workloads of his seam bowlers, apply different bowling strategies and even attempt an array of field settings, but it was all went in vain as he could not find the way to break the stand and failed to claim victory.
Williamson told reporters at the post-match press conference, "Maybe, we have done everything we could. We sat down and had a number of conversations with other senior players and at breaks and said 'what's something else we can try?' and we tried pretty much all of it.”
The captain continued, “There were a couple of wide balls that lobbed maybe 10m toward point but only 5m in distance. I think that was the best we got. Without the bounce and defensive strokes, nothing was carried through to the keeper. We tried a number of short deliveries which might have brought about something foreign in terms of stroke play but it was very difficult. We shouldn't ignore the fact that the two Sri Lankan batters played beautifully. I don't think I've been part of a game where two guys have batted a whole day together and not given an opportunity.”
Williamson signed off by saying, “The first two days were brilliant and put us in a really strong position. Tom Latham bats beautifully with jet lag, so we'll get him on a world trip in a couple of days. It's one of those things, you feel a bit like it's a five-match series with three in the UAE and then a quick turnaround from when we arrived home. It was really nice to get into the routine of playing and after a day it kind of kicks the jet lag out pretty quickly.”
(With Cricbuzz Inputs)
