Andrew Alderson and Dylan Cleaver discuss Kane Williamson’s 251 run innings on the second day of the New Zealand-West Indies opening test in Hamilton. Video / Andrew Alderson
Kane Williamson will sleep well tonight. He should make the most of it.
The big news from day two was the captain's glorious 251, but there has been bigger news in the Williamson household of late.
"It's a very exciting time in anybody's life and it certainly is in mine," said Williamson of impending fatherhood. His partner Sarah Raheem was an onlooker today and is due with the couple's first child in mid- to late-December.
"Does a due date mean anything?" Williamson jokingly asked. "I don't know."
That does raise the possibility of a parental leave, though the 30-year old said he'd cross that bridge closer to the time. At this moment he's thinking only of how to prise 20 West Indian wickets out of an increasingly placid surface.
Williamson checked off a list of achievements during his double ton, but in standard fashion was thinking more about the big picture than the personal plaudits.
"For me it was about sticking to my plans for long periods of time and then hope that when you get the good balls you miss them.
"Even towards the end of my innings I was playing and missing still, so there was a little bit there but the surface was certainly getting a bit better."
Williamson's remarkable discipline was shown by the fact he put the pull shot away until he'd faced 279 balls, no easy feat given it is traditionally one of his more productive modes of scoring.
The steep bounce, however, convinced him not to.
Williamson's innings found an admirer in Barbadian bowler Kemar Roach.
"Fantastic player he is. He's obviously very disciplined in what he does … he's a very humble guy and he played well; kudos to him, fantastic innings, one of the best I've seen. Take away Kane's innings and I think we were in [with a chance] on all the batsmen."
That feeling was best summed up by this statistic: During the first two sessions of day two, Williamson scored 139 runs from 180 balls, everyone else scored 72 from 190 balls.
West Indies fast bowler Kemar Roach congratulates Kane Williamson on his highest test score on day two of the Hamilton test. Photo / Photosport
Roach said a focus for the attack will be trying to analyse ways of getting Williamson's wicket. It won't be easy, he acknowledged, but it will be a contest.
"I don't think we bowled badly, he just played a really top-quality test innings. It's all about us now trying to match that, to surpass their score in the first innings and go again with ball in the second innings.
"To come out against quality bowlers and survive this evening definitely fills us with a lot of confidence."
It was a milestone day for Roach, who in taking 3-114 went past the great Andy Roberts into eighth on the West Indies wickets list with 204.
"It's always good to climb the ladder in whatever you do," the Bajan said. "I'm pretty proud of myself. It's about putting in some more performances, keep climbing the ladder as high as possible and surpassing some more names.
