New Zealand captain Kane Williamson has advised his facet they need to “start afresh” in subsequent week’s second and ultimate Test towards England at Edgbaston after some “superb” cricket enabled them to have the higher of a drawn sequence opener at Lord’s.
The Black Caps have been in cost from the outset as opener Devon Conway marked his Test debut with a superb 200.
Veteran seamer Tim Southee then took 6-43 as New Zealand, who after this sequence face India within the inaugural World Test Championship ultimate later this month, established a first-innings lead of over 100 runs.
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But Friday’s complete washout pissed off New Zealand’s bid for less than a second Test-match win at Lord’s to set alongside their 1999 success on the ‘home of cricket’.
Williamson’s sporting declaration at lunch on Sunday’s ultimate day left England with a goal of 273 in 75 overs.
Neil Wagner took 2-27 however even the lion-hearted left-arm fast was unable to stop England grinding their manner to 170-3 in 70 overs by the point a draw was agreed.
“I thought the guys played some superb cricket throughout to give us that potential opportunity,” Williamson advised reporters. “Unfortunately it wasn’t to be today, losing a day to weather doesn’t help the cause.”
‘Docile’
He added: “We declared for a reason and that was to try and push for a victory. Although it seemed unlikely for a period, if one spun out of the rough or you were able to open up and end then anything could happen reasonably quickly, and we were holding on to that hope for as long as we could.
“But clearly things became quite docile out there.”
Looking to the second Test, the star batsman stated: “We know the quality England have and they’re a very difficult side to beat. It’s important we to get back to our plans, starting afresh at a new ground, and look to execute.”
But the Black Caps will journey to Birmingham buoyed by two memorable particular person efforts from in what was their first match at Lord’s since an agonising Super Over loss to England within the 2019 World Cup ultimate.
“Devon has shown his class — a debut Test at ‘the home of cricket’ and he just looked so comfortable,” stated Williamson. To rating a double century is an unbelievable feat.”
As for Southee, the skipper stated: “Tim led the attack beautifully.”
Meanwhile England captain Joe Root defended the hosts’ stubborn method to the run-chased.
“You look at the declaration, it looked like quite a generous one in many ways,” he stated. “But, you look at the run-rates throughout the game — no one has scored over three an over throughout the whole game even when the pitch was at its absolute best.
“Once we got through an initial phase it just didn’t feel like it was a realistic opportunity for us to win the game.”
England’s Dom Sibley batted for greater than 5 hours on Sunday for his 60 not out, having failed to attain double figures in his six earlier worldwide innings.
Root, who shared a stand of 80 with Sibley after the lack of two fast wickets, lauded the Warwickshire opener’s “great resilience and character”.
The England skipper added: “He really did trust his defence, trust his game and showed that he has the mental capacity for Test cricket.
“Sometimes you learn a lot about players in those situations and those environments, on a surface like that where it was up and down.”
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