Kane Williamson reacts after his dismissal.© AFP
Star New Zealand batsman Kane Williamson dug his own grave to get out on Day 1 of the third Test against England. Well set on 44, Williamson’s attempt to block a delivery by England seamer Matthew Potts went awry. Bouncing off the ground, the ball appeared to head towards the stumps behind Williamson. Here is where Williamson made a grave error. The 34-year-old tried to stop the ball but ended up kicking it straight onto the wickets.
Had Williamson not kicked the ball, it may have bounced over the stumps and he could’ve survived.
The mistake ended an innings of 44 off 87 balls and was the second of three New Zealand wickets to fall in the space of 34 runs.
Watch: Williamson’s error in judgment
UNLUCKY KANE WILLIAMSON!#NZvENG #KaneWilliamson pic.twitter.com/1yuKrON9ye
— CricketInfo (@cricketinfo2024) December 14, 2024
Nevertheless, the Kiwis ended Day 1 on a respectable score of 315/9. A half-century by captain Tom Latham (63) at the top and a quickfire 50 by Mitchell Santner late on Day 1 helped New Zealand to the score. Williamson and Will Young (42) also made handy contributions.
Potts, on his part, took three wickets, as did pace bowling partner Gus Atkinson. In fact, Atkinson also became the second bowler in Test cricket history to pick up more than 50 wickets in his debut year of Tests.
Brydon Carse got two wickets, while captain Ben Stokes chipped in with one.
Both sides are out of the running for the World Test Championship (WTC) 2025 final. New Zealand received a big boost to their hopes after whitewashing India 3-0 in India, but their home series against England has not gone to plan.
England have won both of the first two Tests. Following the first Test, both sides were docked three points from their WTC tally for maintaining a slow-over rate, basically killing their chances of making the final.
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