Lyon keen to exploit a chink in Williamson’s armour in milestone Test
With Kane Williamson all set for his 100th Test appearance in Christchurch, rival Nathan Lyon is ready with a plan to curb the prolific batter.
When he walks out on the field at Hagley Oval on Friday, Williamson will add yet another feat to his rich cricketing career.
Along with long-time teammate Tim Southee, the former New Zealand captain will join Ross Taylor, Daniel Vettori, Stephen Fleming, and Brendon McCullum in having played 100 Tests for the side.
On the way to this special century, Williamson has already broken several records.
He has the most Test runs for a Kiwi batter, with the next best Taylor almost 1000 runs behind him and has a stranglehold on the No.1 ranking for Test batters.
His Test average is also the best for New Zealand, with a stipulation of a minimum of 10 Tests.
Besides, the batter also won the World Test Championship Final 2021 as a captain. However, a Test series win over neighbouring rivals Australia continues to evade Williamson.
And with a loss in the first Test in the ongoing trans-Tasman Trophy in Wellington, New Zealand can at best share the honours in the two-game series.
Despite averaging 55.25 in his career, Williamson’s form takes a dip against Australia. The prolific batter averages 37.26 in 10 games against them.
In his most recent outing, he fell for a duck after falling short of the crease while going for a poorly judged run in the first innings. In the second assay, Australia’s off-spinner Lyon came around the wicket and had the batter caught at leg slip by Steve Smith for nine.
Captain Pat Cummins and the Australia team heap praise on star spinner Nathan Lyon at the ICC World Test Championship Final
Speaking later, Lyon let out that Williamson’s dismissal, which came three deliveries after he’d switched around the wicket, was part of a plan.
“That was a plan, and it's nice when plans come off pretty well straight away. I've noticed something in Kane's batting against my bowling, so I tried to exploit that," Lyon said.
However, the experienced spinner refused to divulge any further details about his “plan” for Williamson.
“There's one Test to come, mate,” Lyon let out cheekily.
Australia’s third-most successful Test bowler in terms of wickets, Lyon picked his fifth 10-wicket haul in the first Test of the series, securing a solid 172-run win.
For his part, Williamson praised Lyon’s effort on a wicket that gave some help to the spinners. Speaking ahead of his momentous 100th Test, Williamson said, “(Lyon is) an incredible bowler and the surface in Wellington certainly was a competitive surface. It brought the spinners into play more than we thought going into it.
“And the quality he has, he certainly made the most of that and was quite a handful. As a player, you're always trying to improve, get better, adapt quickly.”
The second Test begins on Friday (8 March).