Kane Williamson equals Younis Khan’s record as New Zealand win South Africa Test series

New Zealand’s skipper Kane Williamson equalled former Pakistani batter Younis Khan’s record after beating South Africa in the second Test at the Seddon Park on Friday.

New Zealand defeated South Africa in a red-ball series for the first time in history after 18 attempts.

The Proteas’ bowler Dane Piedt restricted New Zealand to 117-3, but Williamson (113*)and Will Young (60*) stayed on the crease to guide the Black Caps to a remarkable win.

"It was a pretty old-fashioned sort of ding-dong test match," said New Zealand skipper Tim Southee.

"Kane played an absolute blinder, as he has done for so many years, and he was well assisted by Youngy today."

The 33-year-old, who already had the most Test hundreds for the Kiwis, levelled legendary Australian batters Steve Waugh and Steve Smith with his 32nd ton, becoming the joint-11th in the all-time list.

Williamson scored his 32nd century in 172 innings, which made him the fastest player to do so, overtaking Smith who reached this feat in 174 innings.

The New Zealand skipper also equalled the legendary Pakistani batter Younis Khan’s record of scoring five centuries in the fourth innings. However, he did in 14 fewer innings than Khan and remained unbeaten in all of five tons. Apart from these two, not a single player even has four, Ricky Pointing and Graeme Smith have three each.

Remember, since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Williamson amassed 2,190 runs at an impressive 78.21 average and 11 tons in 32 innings. England’s Joe Root is the only player with more hundreds (13) than the Kiwi skipper.

"Credit to South Africa. They certainly outplayed us for the first couple of days and put us under pressure and we had to fight hard to get out of that position," said Williamson, who was named Player of the Series.