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Williamson joins Black Caps elite

New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson equals Crowe's record, passes 5000 runs in Hamilton

Kane Williamson's century in the third and final Test against South Africa has seen the Black Caps skipper equal Martin Crowe’s 22-year-old record of 17 Test tons for New Zealand.

Williamson reached three figures off 150 balls in his side’s Test decider in Hamilton, hitting 10 boundaries and to sixes in a clinical display.

Shots on the leg side were favoured by the 26-year-old, where he hit three boundaries and a six, while he also cleared the ropes at long on.

It was his second century of the Test series, having hit 130 against the Proteas in the first drawn Test in Dunedin two weeks ago to move within one century of Crowe’s record.

The legendary Crowe, considered one of the best Kiwi batsmen of all time, smacked 17 Test centuries between 1982 and 1995, with a high score of 299.

Williamson also passed 5000 runs on day three at Seddon Park, breaking Crowe’s record for fastest New Zealand batsman to reach the milestone.

He got there in 110 innings during his 61st Test, level with Australia great Ricky Ponting, while Crowe got there in 117 knocks.

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Of New Zealand’s current players, only Ross Taylor (6030) has scored more Test runs than Williamson.

Taylor has been sitting on 16 Test centuries since his 102no against Pakistan in Hamilton last November, with the 33-year-old currently sidelined after tearing his calf during the first Test against the Proteas in Dunedin.

Former captain Stephen Fleming (7172 runs in 111 Tests) holds the Black Caps’ Test runs record, ahead of another former skipper, Brendon McCullum (6453 in 101).

Williamson, who scored a century in his very first Test innings as a 20-year-old back in November 2010, is already the youngest player to score a hundred against every other Test-playing nation and, some five months before his next birthday, now trails only Sachin Tendulkar (22) and Alastair Cook (19) for Test hundreds before turning 27.

New Zealand batsmen with more than 5000 Test runs

  • Stephen Fleming (7172)
  • Brendon McCullum (6453)
  • Ross Taylor (6030)
  • Martin Crowe (5444)
  • John Wright (5334)
  • Kane Williamson (5000)