A fortnight after a one-run win over England that seemed to have supplied enough thrills for a summer, Kane Williamson conquered Sri Lanka on the last ball of another thrilling match at Hagley Oval.
The former skipper, who spent the afternoon compiling an expertly paced unbeaten century, carved a boundary through point to level the scores with two deliveries left.
Williamson then ducked under one bouncer and waved unsuccessfully at another but scampered through for a match-winning bye and barely beat a throw that, had it dislodged the bails a touch sooner, could have produced the third tied test in history.
His masterful innings of 121 guided his side to a target of 285 that represented the third-highest successful chase in this country’s test history.
Coming only a couple of weeks after Neil Wagner bowled the Black Caps to a scarcely believable one-run victory over England, this denouement was equally as dramatic.Williamson’s steady accumulation was initially complemented well by Daryl Mitchell’s aggression, the pair putting together a pivotal fourth-wicket stand of 142 from 157. But when Mitchell and Tom Blundell were swiftly removed with half an hour to play, the hosts still needed 46 from 39 with five wickets in hand.
Michael Bracewell’s driven boundary reduced the target to 20 from the final three overs; his wicket a couple of balls later left Sri Lanka needing four more.
Fifteen were needing from the last two and, after Tim Southee holed out, eight was the magic number as Matt Henry joined Williamson for the final over.
Henry’s desperation wasn’t enough to avoid a run out, leaving Wagner to charge to the crease in a manner belying the bulging disc in his back and the tear in his hamstring.
Celebrating his 37th birthday, Wagner’s unlikely turn of speed was then needed for the match-winning run, as Williamson further cemented his status as this country’s greatest batsman.
The 32-year-old’s 26th test ton was integral last month in helping his side sneak back into a second test that England had dominated. No 27 came up this afternoon in fading light with 32 runs still needed to beat Sri Lanka and, finding the gaps while charging hard between the wickets, that half-finished job was eventually, amazingly, completed.
It initially looked like rain would prove a spoiler in an evenly poised test, the teams unable to take the field until mid-afternoon for a 52-over sprint to the finish.
With New Zealand resuming on 28-1 and needing 257, at a run rate of a tick under five, the early losses of Tom Latham and Henry Nicholls could have dissuaded the home side from mounting a serious chase.
But playing on a pitch still tricky for batting, a compelling test that has seen control shift back and forth featured several swings still to come.
The first came when Williamson’s stay was almost ended on 33, fortunate to see wicketkeeper Niroshan Dickwella spill an edge low to his right.
Nicholls fell the following over but, joining Williamson when their side still needed 195 runs from 34 overs, Mitchell signalled his intentions with a first-ball six.
The required run rate edged soon above six but Williamson was beginning to target the boundary, bringing up his 50 as the target dropped below 150 with 24 over remaining.
ceded three wides in one over with a negative line outside leg.
Heading into the final hour, New Zealand now needed 101 more from 90 balls. From such a position, the sun still shining, it looked like there could be only one winner. The third and fourth sixes of Mitchell’s enhanced that feeling, making the equation an eminently achievable 78 from 72.
The pressure on the fielders soon brought a costly misfield, New Zealand needing only singles to seize victory. But there was then another couple of complications to come, as first Mitchell unluckily dragged onto his stumps.
Fifty-three runs were needed from 48 balls when Blundell joined the drama, and when Fernando yorked the wicketkeeper after only five balls, Sri Lanka had a sniff.
The cheap wickets of Bracewell, Southee and Henry heightened that sense, but the despairing dive of Williamson would soon become the defining image of another breath-taking day of cricket.
