Kane Williamson notched his second double century in Test cricket and his first in more than four years as New Zealand ripped up the record books in the first Test against Bangladesh at Seddon Park in Hamilton.
With the final ball before afternoon drinks, Williamson swung the ball to the boundary for four to bring up his 200 and promptly declared the Blackcaps first innings over at 715/6 – their biggest-ever Test score.
New Zealand’s previous best test score was 690 runs against Pakistan in 2014.
What a brilliant innings by Kane Williamson 👏
2⃣0⃣0⃣* off 2⃣5⃣7⃣ balls, great stuff! His double ton helps New Zealand reach a mammoth total of 715. #OrangeArmy #NZvBANPC: @BLACKCAPS pic.twitter.com/zHZLdLtthe
— SunRisers Hyderabad (@SunRisers) March 2, 2019
Williamson was unbeaten on 166, as the teams went to lunch at 605/6, and reached his double-century off 257 balls.
The 28-year-old also passed the 6000-run milestone in just his 120th inning, putting him on pace with the likes of West Indies batting legend Brian Lara and Australia’s Matthew Hayden.
Kane Williamson is now the fastest New Zealand batsman to score 6,000 Test runs; 126 innings
LIVE Scorecard —>https://t.co/kSxVb89xPo#NZvBAN #BANvNZ #1stTEST #Cricket #TheCricketTimes pic.twitter.com/Yb9EPIaeSQ— CricketTimes.com (@CricketTimesHQ) March 2, 2019
The current Test is extraordinary for the fact that the top three New Zealand batsmen have all scored centuries in the same innings.
Jeet Raval scored 132 and Tom Latham 161 in a record 254-run opening partnership – only the fifth time both New Zealand openers have scored centuries in the same innings – before Williamson’s innings propelled the Blackcaps on to their highest Test total.
