Kane Williamson becomes fastest batter to 32 Test centuries: Stats
Kane Williamson has become the fastest batter to complete 32 test tons. The talismanic New Zealand batter slammed a match-winning 133* off 260 balls in the fourth innings of the second Test against South Africa in Hamilton. This was Williamson's sixth Test hundred against SA as he has now equaled Jacques Kallis in terms of the most tons in NZ-SA Tests.
A fine hand from Williamson
Chasing 267, Williamson arrived with the scorecard reading 40/1. After losing Tom Latham (30) at the other end, Williamson joined forces with Rachin Ravindra (20) as the duo added 64 runs to take NZ past 100. At 117/3, Williamson joined Will Young (60*) and it was one-way traffic since then. They added 152 runs as Williamson recorded his third hundred of the series.
Williamson joins these names
As this was Williamson's 32nd Test ton, he has now equaled Australian duo of Steve Waugh and Steve Smith in terms of Test centuries. No other active player owns more Test tons. As mentioned, he is the fastest to reach 32 Test tons, having taken 172 innings of 98 Tests. Smith (174) and Ricky Ponting (176) and are next on the list.
Sixth Test hundred versus SA
Williamson was at his best in the opener as he returned with twin tons (118 and 109). He has now equaled Kallis's tally of six tons in NZ-SA Test matches. John Reid, Jacob Oram, and Henry Nicholls are the only other NZ batters with multiple tons against SA. All three batters own two tons apiece in this regard.
Williamson joins this elite list
En route to his hundred, Williamson became the fifth batter to complete 1,000 runs in NZ-SA Tests. He has joined Kallis (1,543), Hashim Amla (1,154), Jackie McGlew (1,100), and Stephen Fleming (1,072). Playing his 12th Test against SA, Williamson averages 55-plus against them (50s: 2, 100: 6). He has not scored more Test tons against any other team.
8,500 runs for Williamson
Williamson completed 8,500 Test runs en route to his 43 in the first innings. He has now raced to 8,666 runs. The batter's average of 55.9 is the fourth-best among batters with as many or more runs than Williamson. His tally includes 32 tons and 33 fifties (200s: 6). Williamson has now scored seven tons in his last 12 Test innings.
Second-best average in home Tests
With his sixth run in the game, Williamson also completed 4,500 runs in home Tests (4,670). While he averages 69.70 at home, only the legendary Don Bradman (98.22) has a higher average among batters with at least 3,000 Test runs at home. Williamson has hammered 19 tons and 18 fifties in home Tests. Five of his six double-tons have come at home.
Equals Younis Khan's feat
As per ESPNcricinfo, this was Williamson's fifth ton in the fourth innings as he has now equaled Pakistan's Younis Khan in terms of the most Test centuries in the final innings. Williamson has now raced to 1,040 Test runs in the fourth innings, averaging 57.77. The tally includes four fifties. He owns the third-best average among batters with 1,000-plus Test runs in this regard.
How did the game pan out?
Batting first, SA managed 242 as Ruan de Swardt made 64. Debutant pacer William O'Rourke claimed four wickets. Dane Peidt's fifer meant NZ were dismissed for 211 in reply. SA posted 235 in this second outing as David Bedingham starred with a brilliant ton. O'Rourke took a fifer. Chasing 267, NZ comfortably crossed the line thanks to Williamson's ton.
