Williamson achieves first of his career during 31st Test ton

MOUNT MAUNGANUI: New Zealand's experienced batter Kane Williamson for the first time in his career made centuries in both innings of a Test match on Day 3 of the first Test match against South Africa on Tuesday. Williamson riding high on his experience made the inexperienced South African bowlers toil hard on a sluggish surface.

He raised his bat for his 31st Test ton and became just the fifth Kiwi batter to achieve the feat. In the first innings, the veteran batter with a watchful eye and patience scored 118 of 289 deliveries. Before Williamson, former Kiwi batters Glenn Turner (1974), Geoff Howarth (1978), Andrew Jones (1991) and Peter Fulton (2013) managed to score a hundred in both innings of a Test.

Williamson's 31st Test ton secured the 13th spot for him in the overall list of Test century scorers. Australia's Steve Smith is the only active player who is ahead of him in the rankings with 32 Test tons to his name.

Overall, Williamson's outing in the first Test marked the 92nd occasion when a player has scored a century in both innings of a Test game. In comparison to the first innings, Williamson took a brisk approach and raised his bat for his 31st Test ton in 125 deliveries. When other batters struggled on a sluggish surface, Williamson armed with technique and experience ensured that New Zealand scored at a healthy run rate of 4. With each run, New Zealand piled runs on the board and agony on the inexperienced South African team as well.

The veteran batter played with more freedom and picked up gaps more easily in comparison to his knock in the first innings. After sending the South Africa skipper Neil Brand's delivery of six on the first ball, tried to clear the boundary once again in the same over but found the hands of Clyde Fortuin. New Zealand ended the day with a score of 179/4 with a lead of 528 runs.