NZ vs PAK: Kane Williamson cracks a record-breaking double century

New Zealand captain Kane Williamson continued to churn out runs with an unbelievable consistency as he smashed 238 against Pakistan in the second Test. At Hegley Oval, Christchurch, Williamson’s double century and 157 from Henry Nicholls helped the home side take a mammoth 362 run lead over Pakistan. While scoring his 24th test century, the current number one Test batsman in the world, Williamson went past plenty of milestones. Here are the major ones.

Fastest to 7000 runs

As Williamson brought up 123 runs in his innings, he completed 7000 runs in his Test career. The right-hander became only the third New Zealander to achieve this feat. Not only that, he became the fastest since he achieved it in only 143 Test innings. The other two batsmen to reach this landmark for New Zealand are Ross Taylor and Stephen Fleming.

Graceful. Greatness. Kane Williamson #NZvPAK #InsideEdge pic.twitter.com/kIDeSkJDOD

— Spark Sport (@sparknzsport) January 5, 2021

Mammoth partnership

Joining hands at the score of 70/3, Williamson along with Nicholls added 369 runs for the fourth wicket. This is New Zealand’s third-highest partnership for any wicket in Test cricket. This is also New Zealand’s first-ever 300-plus run partnership against Pakistan in Test cricket. Their previous highest was 297 which involved Brendon McCullum and Williamson.

4th double

The score of 238 was also Kane Williamson’s 4th double century in Test Cricket. He thus joined McCullum who has also scored four double centuries – the most by a New Zealand batsman. Before the coronavirus break, Williamson had two double-centuries but with this innings and his highest of 251 against West Indies in December 2020, he now tops the tally for his nation

A unique number

Until Kane Williamson today, 238 was the lowest score unachieved in international cricket. Now there is at least one instance of all scores from 0-251.

PS – Belinda Clark scored 229 runs in a Women’s match, though no man has that score.#NZvPAK

— Kausthub Gudipati (@kaustats) January 5, 2021

Before today, no other batsman had scored exactly 238 runs in international cricket. By getting dismissed on that score, Williamson became the first batsman in international cricket’s history to score 238 runs. This now makes 252 as the lowest unachieved score in international cricket.