Williamson achieves career first when registering 31st Test century

Wednesday, 7 February 2024 00:41 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

New Zealand batter Kane Williamson scored his 31st Test century when amassing a superb 109 against South Africa on Tuesday and in the process achieved a rare first in his career.

It was the first time Williamson had scored two centuries in the same Test match, with the No. 1 ranked Test batter in the world adding to his 118 in the first innings by continuing his excellent recent form and reaching triple figures yet again.

The feat of scoring centuries in both innings of a Test has now been achieved on 92 occasions in the history of Test cricket, with Williamson becoming the fifth player from New Zealand to do so after Glenn Turner (1974), Geoff Howarth (1978), Andrew Jones (1991) and Peter Fulton (2013).

Williamson’s 31st Test century means the right-hander has outright ownership of 13th place overall on the list of Test centurions, with Australia’s Steve Smith (32 Test centuries) the only current player in front of him.

Williamson’s heroics headlined yet another dominant day for New Zealand in Mount Maunganui as the hosts went to stumps at 179/4 and with an overall lead of 528 runs with two days remaining.

South Africa commenced day three precariously placed at 80/4 in reply to New Zealand’s mammoth first innings total of 511 and Matt Henry (3/31) picked up wickets with consecutive deliveries early in the first session to put the home side firmly in control.

Keegan Petersen (45) fought hard for South Africa to provide a glimmer of hope for the tourists, but Mitchell Santner (3/34) and first innings double-centurion Rachin Ravindra (2/16) bowled well to ensure the Proteas were dismissed for just 162.

While South Africa bowled well at times during New Zealand’s second innings, Williamson calm demeanour ensured the hosts were in the box seat for victory heading into the fourth day of the first Test on Wednesday.