Kane Williamson struck twin centuries against South Africa in Mount Maunganui to further strengthen his enviable Test record and make New Zealand emphatic favourites to go 1-0 in the series.

Williamson’s 31st hundred has now placed him ninth on the all-time Test hundreds list: by far the leader among New Zealand players (the next best is 19). He is now just one behind Steve Smith among all active Test players in the centuries count.

He is the joint-second fastest to 31 Test hundreds along with Smith (170 innings). Sachin Tendulkar took 165.

Two centuries in the same Test

Williamson’s second century at the Bay Oval was the 92nd instance of a batter scoring two centuries in the same men’s Test, and the first for New Zealand since Peter Fulton in 2013. Overall, he is just the fifth New Zealand player to achieve this feat

At stumps on day three, the hosts were 179-4 in the first innings, their lead soaring past 500, with Williamson departing after 109 off 132. He was stumped off South Africa skipper Neil Brand, the second instance of him getting dismissed in this fashion in consecutive Test appearances.

In the first innings, Williamson had scored 118, giving ample support to Rachin Ravindra’s headline-making 240. New Zealand currently lead by 528 runs.

Champion at home

Williamson’s Test numbers are nothing short of exceptional: with nearly 8,500 runs and a career average of 55, he is already a great, but it’s his domination at home that really underlines his statistics.

At home, Williamson averages a whopping 68.09 from 75 innings: among all players to feature in as many home innings, Williamson’s average is the highest ever. Garry Sobers is the second-best averaging 66.80 in as many innings. He is now joint with Don Bradman in terms of home centuries (18), and joint sixth in the overall list.

Away from home (including neutral venues), he averages 45.50 from 95 innings.

In his last ten innings at home, Williamson has hit two double centuries and four centuries, spread against Pakistan, England, Sri Lanka and South Africa.

A second century for Kane Williamson! He becomes the fifth New Zealand player to record two hundreds in the same Test. 👏@BLACKCAPS v South Africa: 1st Test | LIVE on DUKE and TVNZ+ pic.twitter.com/dOHYOBkMpQ

— TVNZ+ (@TVNZ) February 6, 2024

Blazing recent form

Since the start of 2020, he averages 70.36 in Tests, with ten centuries and two fifties in 33 innings. Among all players in this period, only Williamson and Root have hit ten or more centuries, with Williamson having batted in just over one third the number of innings. Seven of those have come in 20 innings since the start of 2022.

His last ten innings read: 132, 1, 121*, 215, 104, 11, 13, 11, 118, 109

He has managed the prolific run despite being taking injury breaks several times in the last couple of years: an ACL injury last year sidelined him for nearly six months, following which a thumb injury ruled him out for a part of the 2023 World Cup. Before that, a nagging elbow injury led to disruptions across 2021 and 2022.

Back to being match-fit and in prime form, the 33-year-old continues to chart new heights.

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