Williamson counts on the positives

The Black Caps were bowled out for 236 early in the second session on Monday, handing the home side a 197-run win. It was India’s 10th victory from their last 11 home tests. 

A result of that nature had seemed barely believable when the visitors were 167 from a first innings lead with nine wickets in hand heading into day three. 

“On the scorecard it looks like a biggish defeat but there were a couple of moments that I would reflect on as where the game turned in their favour,” Williamson said. “The back end of our first innings and certainly when we bowled in the second innings there was probably a three-hour period where we didn’t bowl very well and they got away from us. It’s a combination of us not quite being at our best at certain times and they played very well.” 

India’s 500th test had ended in victory, and the teams headed to Kolkata for Friday’s second test with it all ahead of the Black Caps. 

Williamson remained upbeat. “The first thing is the guys need to recover well. There were a lot of good things to come out of this game and for a number of players it is their first time batting in these sort of conditions. 

“There will be a lot of lessons learned, and looking to apply the skills that worked for a period of time for a lot longer. That’s certainly what the Indian players do,” he added.