Kane Williamson, the ex-captain of New Zealand’s cricket team, grabbed the chance to bat when South Africa decided to bowl first. Even though he was supposed to bat third, he ended up facing the ball in just the second over after Devon Conway got out. At that point, New Zealand had only scored 2 runs for the loss of 1 wicket.
Without wasting any time, Williamson got into his groove and hit a nice boundary through the covers off the 19th ball he faced. It took him 125 deliveries to reach fifty runs, but he did it in style by guiding a half-volley to the boundary through mid-on and mid-wicket. Despite facing a tough South African bowling attack, he kept his cool and continued to score runs.
When Williamson reached his century, his 17th in New Zealand, it made him the fourth-fastest player in Test cricket history to reach 30 centuries. He achieved this in his 169th innings, surpassing the records of Ricky Ponting and Sunil Gavaskar, who did it in their 170th and 174th innings respectively.
In the match, New Zealand’s team included Tom Latham, Devon Conway, Kane Williamson, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell (who was also the wicketkeeper), Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Kyle Jamieson, Tim Southee (the captain), and Matt Henry.
South Africa’s team consisted of Neil Brand (the captain), Edward Moore, Raynard van Tonder, Zubayr Hamza, David Bedingham, Keegan Petersen, Ruan de Swardt, Clyde Fortuin (the wicketkeeper), Duanne Olivier, Tshepo Moreki, and Dane Paterson.