Cricket: Williamson continues his one-day form

Kane Williamson. Photo / Getty Images

Kane Williamson picked up where he left off as he notched an unbeaten half century on the first day of New Zealand's two-day warm-up match against Zimbabwe A in Bulawayo overnight (NZT).

Williamson came in at first drop and finished the day on 86 not out from 142 balls, guiding his team to 344 for 8 at stumps.

The 21-year-old, whose 69-ball hundred in the third one-day international against Zimbabwe was the second-fastest in New Zealand history, enjoyed solid partnerships of 69 with Brendon McCullum and 111 with captain Ross Taylor.

He smacked 13 fours and two sixes during his stay at the crease.

Earlier, McCullum got New Zealand off to a flying start after New Zealand won the toss and chose to bat, taking only 66 balls to collect 63, while Taylor also reached a half-century before retiring on 51.

Taylor later allayed fears over his departure, saying on Twitter the motivation behind the move was to ensure the recently-arrived Dean Brownlie and Daniel Vettori were able to enjoy some time at the crease.

Williamson also retired upon reaching 60 but returned to the middle when the Black Caps were down to their last wicket. He then proceeded to put on a further 46 runs with No 11 Jeetan Patel, who ended the day on 19 not out.

The Black Caps' top six - excluding opener Martin Guptill - all made starts, before spinners Prosper Utseya and Natsai M'shangwe sparked a middle-order collapse as the tourists lost five wickets for 28 runs.

Although 13 players make up each side, BJ Watling didn't bat, indicating he could be left out of the test team in favour of Brownlie, who is yet to make his test debut. The Australian-born batsman came in at No 6 in the order and made 36 before falling victim to Keegan Meth.

The sole test of the tour gets underway on Tuesday night (NZT).

Scoreboard from the first day of the two-day match with Zimbabwe A in BulawayoNew Zealand 1st innings
B McCullum c Chakabva b Chinouya 63
M Guptill c Mutizwa b Masakadza 12
K Williamson not out 86
R Taylor retired hurt 51
J Ryder c sub b Utseya 26
D Brownlie c Utseya b Meth 36
D Vettori c Mutizwa b Utseya 19
R Young c Mutizwa b Utseya 4
D Bracewell c Masakadza b Mushangwe 18
A McKay c Mutizwa b Mushangwe 1
J Patel not out 19
Extras 9
Total 8/344 (90 overs)
FOW: 1-35 (Guptill), 2-104 (McCullum), 3-215 (Ryder), 4-270 (Vettori), 5-276 (Brownlie), 6-298 (Bracewell), 7-298 (Young), 8-298 (McKay)
Bowling: EC Rainsford 10-2-24-0, SW Masakadza 12-3-70-1, KO Meth 11-3-42-1, MT Chinouya 11-1-53-1, P Utseya 24-4-75-3, N Mushangwe 22-6-76-2
Umpires: LA Ngwenya and T Phiri