14th over, 2nd ball: Jasprit Bumrah angles the ball in from wide of the crease. A loud appeal of LBW is turned down following an unsuccessful attempt to flick the ball by Kane Williamson. 14th over, 6th ball: Hardik Pandya, at mid-off, fails to make the most of a half chance after Williamson can’t clear the in-field. WATCH VIDEO: New Zealand & India Team Being Welcomed In Chandigarh 20th over, 1st ball: MS Dhoni, standing up to the stumps, fails to hold on to a thick edge when Williamson attempts the cut shot against left-arm spinner Axar Patel. 24th over, 1st ball: Bumrah’s yorker has Williamson sprawling on the ground. The subsequent LBW appeal is not entertained as the ball was missing the leg-stump. Despite those chances, the New Zealand skipper’s innings was a delight to watch. Besides, nobody would grudge Williamson — winless for over a month now — a stroke of luck. His team lost the Test series 0-3, The first ODI was lost in the first one hour, New Zealand were reduced to 5 for 48. When you are a young captain who has taken over from a legend, Brendon McCullum, such losing streaks hurt the fans more. For a batsman of Williamson’s calibre, the No.3 in Tests and ODIs – this tour has been a humbling experience and a learning curve, considering he is relatively new to the job of leading the side. He was dismissed by R Ashwin in all the four Test innings, scoring only one fifty. He has scored runs in India before – a Test hundred on debut in Ahmedabad in 2010 marked him as one for the future. Six years later, Williamson is New Zealand’s best batsman and captain and the dual roles bring its own unique set of pressures. In the first ODI series since McCullum’s retirement, the onus was on Williamson to lead from the front. He is not the raw, brawny and explosive batsman but will fall into the template of a gifted and effective stroke-maker. Walking in at the fall of Guptill’s wicket, Williamson had the opportunity to set the tone for the innings. Over the next 20 overs, the New Zealand captain and the team’s most consistent batman on tour Tom Latham added 120 runs for the second wicket. Productive batsman The passage of play in the 13th over of the New Zealand innings was an example of how productive a batsman Williamson can be. Axar Patel, the left-arm spinner, had tied him down in four consecutive deliveries in his previous over, a flick being Williamson’s only scoring shot for two runs. The skipper would disrupt Patel’s line and length the next time he faced him, though. The first ball of the 13th over was slog swept to the mid-wicket region for a four. When Axar altered the length in the next delivery, Williamson went down the track and lofted him over long-on for a six. Now, Axar went fuller in an attempt to not give the batsman any room but Williamson waited for the ball, which was fired in, to arrive and cleverly guided it past gully for a four. Williamson didn’t allow the Indian bowlers to settle down. When the off-side was packed, he walked across the stumps and flicked the ball when facing the fast bowlers. Against the spinners he slog swept or played the milder version of this stroke to pierce the field. Williamson employed the sweep to attack leg-spinner Amit Mishra as soon as he was brought on to bring up his half century, off 56 balls. Two balls later, he used his feet and flicked the ball through mid-on for another boundary, forcing Mishra to call for a meeting with Dhoni. As he approached his 80s, the time he spend in the middle in the stifling conditions, was beginning to show. The 12th man and the support staff were making visits to the middle at the end of every over to attend to Williamson’s cramping hands and to ensure that he was hydrated enough. When the body starts protesting, batsmen tend to look for the big shots to avoid running. Williamson didn’t step on the pedal in panic. Ross Taylor and Corey Anderson, two big-hitters in the line-up capable of tearing into bowling attacks, had struggled to time the ball on the slow wicket, and had been dismissed after making just 21 each at middling strike rates. A lot depended on how long the well-set Williamson could bat. And he carried on. He brought up his century with a lovely cover drive which fetched him two runs. There was no over the top celebrations from Williamson. He perhaps didn’t want to waste any energy on anything but batting during his over three-hour stay at the wicket. After Williamson was caught on the long-on boundary, New Zealand lost four wickets for 24 runs and imploded in the final 10 overs. What could have been a 280-plus score was nipped at 242 for nine. 118 of those runs were off the captain’s bat.
