Kane Williamson and Tom Latham, both from New Zealand, punish Pakistan for their fumbling performance

Both Kane Williamson and Tom Latham scored hundreds on Wednesday, propelling New Zealand to 440-6 at the end of the third day of the first Test match between New Zealand and Pakistan, which was played in Karachi.

Ish Sodhi was on one while Williamson had knocked an unbeaten 105, and the tourists were in the lead by two runs at that point. Williamson had survived two stumpings and a leg-before decision in order to reach his score.

This is Kane Williamson first century in international cricket since he scored 238 runs against Pakistan in Christchurch in January of last year. Williamson scored his 25th century in a Test match.

He established a strong base by constructing on the work done by the openers, Latham (who scored 113 on the way to his 13th Test century) and Devon Conway (who was dismissed for 92).

New Zealand will try to press home their advantage in the first Test of the two-match series, which will be their first in Pakistan since 2002. The pitch at the National Stadium is predicted to take spin on the latter two days of the test match.

Kane Williamson finished off his century by driving the fast bowler Mohammad Wasim for a sharp single, which gave him his sixth hundred against Pakistan. He has been at the crease for a total of 356 minutes, during which time he has hit 11 boundaries.

However, Pakistan were left lamenting wasted opportunities after wicketkeeper Sarfaraz Ahmed botched two attempts to stump Kane Williamson on the scores of 15 and 21, with spinner Nauman Ali being the unfortunate bowler on both instances.

Nauman stated, “I think they were opportunities, but one of the deliveries was on the leg side, and Sarfaraz tried his best.” “I think they were chances, but one of the deliveries was on the leg side,”

Because this pitch is on the slower side, our goal on day four will be to get the last four wickets as early as possible and then to set a strong target of close to 200 runs, which we anticipate would be a fair total on this pitch.

Williamson and Tom Blundell combined for an impressive 90 runs for the fifth wicket before the latter was dismissed by Wasim after scoring 47 runs.

After lunch, the spinners Nauman and Abrar Ahmed for Pakistan claimed two wickets, with Daryl Mitchell getting a solid 42 from 47 balls and Henry Nicholls being dismissed for 22. In addition to having Michael Bracewell for five, Ahmed has statistics ranging from 3 to 143.

In addition, Williamson reversed a leg-before judgement that had been made against him on 13, and he and Mitchell scored 65 runs for the fourth wicket.

After Pakistan got the second new ball with the score at 272-3, Mitchell proceeded to slam seven boundaries and a six, including four consecutive fours off the bowling of Wasim.

Earlier, when New Zealand resumed their innings on 165 without losing any wickets, they were given a boost by Latham’s 13th hundred, which is the most centuries scored by an opener for New Zealand.

Latham reached three figures by sweeping Ahmed for a single, surpassing John Wright’s 12 centuries as an opener for New Zealand, who had previously held the record.

After making a mistake during a reverse sweep and getting caught at slip, he was finally disqualified for 113. Latham, whose 288-minute knock included ten fours and boundaries, believes that New Zealand is in an excellent position to make a run at winning the match.

He explained his sentiments by stating, “The pitch has started to absorb more spin from the footmarks so obviously it is not going to get any easier for batting.” “It is my hope that given where we are currently positioned, we would be able to gain as many ahead as possible and put pressure on Pakistan.”

In their first-wicket partnership, Latham and Devon Conway scored 183 runs, breaking the previous New Zealand record against Pakistan, which was set at 181 by openers Mark Richardson and Matthew Bell in Hamilton in the year 2001.

After hitting 14 fours on his route to his fifth Test half-century, Conway was out for 92 when Nauman took him leg-before wicket.

As a result of the viral virus that has spread across the Pakistan camp, captain Babar Azam did not take the field for the first practise session, while Agha Salman was absent for the entire day.