Kane Williamson ends two-year long Test century drought against Pakistan
Dec 29, 2022
Karachi [Pakistan], December 29 : New Zealand batter Kane Williamson broke his Test century drought, scoring his first ton since January 2021, against Pakistan in the first Test of the series.
On Wednesday, Williamson got to raise his bat in white clothing for the first time in nearly two years.
He became the first-ever Kiwis batter to smash 25 Test tons. At the second place is former batter Ross Taylor, who scored 19 centuries in the longer format.
Williamson is the first-ever non-Asian player to smash centuries in major Asian nations like India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. He is also the first-ever non-Asian player to have scored centuries in 10 countries.
This stylish right-hander has centuries in Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, UAE, West Indies and Zimbabwe.
Williamson also has the fifth-highest international centuries among active players. Virat Kohli tops the list with 72 tons, followed by David Warner, who has 45 tons. Joe Root has 44 centuries, followed by Rohit Sharma and Steve Smith (41).
Coming to the match, New Zealand's first innings is under progress on day 4 and Williamson is also unbeaten at 125. Kiwis have a slender lead over Pakistan in the match.
Pakistan were bundled out for 438 runs after electing to bat first.
Skipper Babar Azam (161), Agha Salman (103) and a returning Sarfaraz Ahmed (86) shined for the Asian side with the bat.
Tim Southee (3/69) was the pick of the bowlers for the Kiwis. Ajaz Patel, Ish Sodhi, and Michael Bracewell also took two scalps while Neil Wagner took one.
Brief Scores: Pakistan: 438 (Babar Azam 161, Agha Salman 103, Tim Southee 3/69) against New Zealand: 484/6 (Kane Williamson 127*, Tom Latham 113, Abrar Ahmed 3/165).
