Kane Williamson creates history, becomes first New Zealand batter to achieve special milestone

New Zealand batter Kane Williamson created history in the second semi-final of the ICC Champions Trophy against South Africa at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. He became the first New Zealand batter to complete 19000 runs in international cricket. He is already the highest run-scorer for the Kiwis at the highest level across all formats and has now added yet another feather to his cap.

Williamson needed only 27 runs to reach the landmark and did so comfortably after batting for 36 deliveries. He came out to bat in the 8th over after Will Young was dismissed by Lungi Ngidi. The former New Zealand skipper has batted decently since then but survived jittery moments early on in the innings.

However, he is a champion player and overcame tough situations before finally completing the special milestone in his already illustrious career. Meanwhile, Williamson has also become the leading run-scorer for New Zealand in ICC Champions Trophy history. He needed only 10 runs to go past Stephen Fleming in this aspect and didn’t take much time to do so.

Fleming amassed 441 runs in just 13 matches in the Champions Trophy at an average of 33.92, with three half-centuries to his name. However, Williamson went past him in just his 10th innings in the showpiece event with a century and four fifties so far. Looking at his form, New Zealand’s number three batter is likely to add more runs to his tally in the tournament. 

Playing XIs

South Africa: Ryan Rickelton, Temba Bavuma (c), Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), David Miller, Wiaan Mulder, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi

New Zealand: Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Kane Williamson, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham (wk), Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner (c), Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, William O’Rourke

More to follow…