New Zealand on the front foot

Hamilton

At stumps, NZ was nicely placed at 243 for two, with Williamson and Ross Taylor batting on 97 and 31 respectively. Earlier, WI captain Jason Holder won the toss and elected to field on a pitch which seemed to have a lot of assistance for the pacers.

His decision did prove right as Shannon Gabriel drew first blood, dismissing debutant Will Young for five. Williamson, who came in next, steadied the ship and along with Latham made sure the host didn’t lose any more wickets until tea.

The duo stitched a 154-run partnership, during which the two batsmen kept the scoreboard ticking at a brisk pace. But, Latham fell to a good ball by Kemar Roach in the final session as he got cleaned up through the gate.