Kane Williamson retired from international cricket with 33 Test hundreds, the most in New Zealand history by the proverbial mile. Here, we attempt to rank them in ascending order.
33. 200* vs Bangladesh, Hamilton 2019/20: Williamson came into bat at 254-1. New Zealand declared six and a half hours later, on 715-6.
32. 113 vs Zimbabwe, Bulawayo 2016: One of three hundreds (and five eighty-plus scores) in the first innings against an attack which seldom threatened.
31 and 30. 118 and 109 vs South Africa, Mount Maunganui 2024/25: Rachin Ravindra’s 240 (his maiden ton) was the talk of the first innings, but Williamson got his routine hundred against a second-string South African side. His second hundred of the Test came after New Zealand batted again despite a 349-run lead.
29. 114 vs Bangladesh, Chattogram 2013/14: A first-innings hundred on a flat pitch where only 30 wickets fell, in a Test usually remembered for Sohag Gazi’s hat-trick and hundred.
28. 113 vs West Indies, Kingston 2014: A first-innings hundred in a massive 508-7 against an attack which lacked penetration. The pitch became difficult as the Test progressed, but Williamson was done by then.
27. 130 vs South Africa, Dunedin 2017/18: Williamson’s hundred (along with Dean Elgar’s) were the highlights of a Test that was reduced to a draw after an entire day’s play was lost to rain.
26. 200* vs Pakistan, Karachi 2022/23: Pakistan’s 438 was not a low score, but Williamson batted for nearly ten hours to completely eclipse them with an unbeaten double century. The Test ended in a draw.
25. 166 vs Australia, WACA 2015/16: Williamson’s support act to Ross Taylor’s 290 helped New Zealand secure a lead after the hosts declared on 559-9 (and eventually draw the Test).
24. 215 vs Sri Lanka, Wellington 2023/24: Williamson and Henry Nicholls both made double hundreds as they put on 363 in the first innings and won by an innings.
23. 238 vs Pakistan, Christchurch 2021/22: The biggest of the three hundreds of New Zealand’s 659-6. Not content with the 369-run stand with Nicholls, he added another 133 with Daryl Mitchell in a Test where Pakistan lost by an innings and plenty.
22. 102 vs England, Auckland 2018/19: After England were bowled out for 58, all New Zealand needed was a big innings from someone. Williamson got that for them (Henry Nicholls topped even that), and the hosts won by an innings.
21. 129 vs Pakistan, Mount Maunganui 2020/21: Pakistan’s reasonable seam attack did not seem to affect Williamson, whose 129 helped New Zealand post 431 and secure a 192-run win, before Neil Wagner famously bowled with fractured toes to help them seal victory.
20. 132 vs England, Lord’s 2015: Four New Zealand batters (and extras) went past fifty in New Zealand’s 523 – it gave them a 134-run lead – but Williamson’s was the only score in excess of 70. It paved the way for a 124-run win.
19. 192 vs Pakistan, Sharjah 2014/15: Against a first-innings total of 351, Williamson was the ice to Brendon McCullum’s fire in a 297-run second-wicket stand that took the game out of Pakistan’s reach. New Zealand won by an innings.
18. 176 vs South Africa, Hamilton 2017/18: A big innings in the context of the Test that helped New Zealand amass a 175-run lead. South Africa slipped to 80-5 in the third innings, but rain played spoilsport.
17. 251 vs West Indies, Hamilton 2020/21: So massive was Williamson’s innings that he outscored the West Indies (138 and 247) in each innings. His teammates, too, could only get 268 between them – and that included 47 extras.
16. 113 vs India, Auckland 2014/15: Williamson’s hundred was drowned out by McCullum’s double, but it help lift New Zealand after they were 30-3. The significance of the hundred is highlighted by New Zealand’s eventual margin of victory: 40 runs.
15. 156 vs England, Hamilton 2024/25: When they batted again despite a 204-run lead, New Zealand needed to bat England out of the Test. With his 156 (the only hundred of the Test), Williamson did exactly that: New Zealand won by 423 runs.
14. 131 vs India, Ahmedabad 2010/11: A debutant Williamson came to bat at 137-4 after India had amassed 487. Demonstrating signs of brilliance that would become a feature of his later days, the youngster top-scored to reduce the deficit to a mere 28. A star was unveiled.
13. 133* vs South Africa, Hamilton 2024/25: South Africa’s weakened attack did secure a 31-run lead. Chasing 269, New Zealand became 111-3, but Williamson rose to the occasion yet again. The hundred gave New Zealand their first series win against the Proteas.
12. 104* vs Bangladesh, Wellington 2017/18: Bangladesh must have sensed a chance after securing a 56-run lead, but their second-innings collapse left New Zealand with only 217 to win. They became 39-2, but Williamson hardly seemed flustered by the target.
11. 135 vs Sri Lanka, P Sara Oval 2012/13: Two-match series' were a regular feature of Williamson’s Test career. Here, New Zealand had to win the second Test to level the series. Williamson added 262 with Taylor, his captain, to take his side to the big first-innings total they needed.
10. 104 vs Bangladesh, Sylhet 2023/24: This classic came on a turning track (Bangladesh went in with one seamer) against a very strong spin attack. It helped New Zealand finish on par after the first innings, but they fell apart in the fourth innings.
9. 140 vs Australia, Brisbane 2015/16: Let alone the defeat, Williamson could not even help save the follow-on, but his counterattacking 140 against a full strength Australian attack at their Gabba stronghold was New Zealand’s only score in excess of fifty in that innings.
8. 104* vs England, Hamilton 2019/20: After conceding a 101-run first-innings lead (and left with 75 overs to survive), Williamson and Taylor got together at 28-2. Both scored hundreds to save the Test.
7. 108* vs Sri Lanka, Hamilton 2015/16: The first of Williamson’s seven hundreds at Seddon Park was a fourth-innings gem that sealed a win. Chasing 189, New Zealand became 11-2 and then 130-5 against a rampant Dushmantha Chameera, but Williamson stayed put until the end to seal a famous win.
6. 161* vs West Indies, Bridgetown 2014: The ubiquitous Williamson classic. Trailing by 24, New Zealand fell to 68-3, but Williamson – aided by Denesh Ramdin’s drops – pushed the lead beyond 300. McCullum’s bold declaration helped New Zealand clinch the series 2-1.
5. 102* vs South Africa, Wellington 2012/13: Williamson’s second Test hundred was also one of his finest. Needing to bat 81 overs to save the Test (or an improbable 389 to win it), New Zealand were reduced to 83-5 inside 36 overs. But Williamson stayed put against Morne Morkel, Vernon Philander, and Dale Steyn to carve out a special hundred to save the Test.
4. 121* vs Sri Lanka, Christchurch 2023/24: Chasing 285 in this classic, New Zealand were 232-3 at one point. As Sri Lanka picked up five more wickets, the hosts had to both battle the clock and keep the wickets in hand in the dying moments of the Test. The win eventually came off the final ball, with two wickets in hand.
3. 132 vs England, Wellington 2023/24: In this fairytale of a contest, New Zealand became the second team to win a Test by one run, and the fourth to win after following on. Neither would have been possible without Williamson’s hundred, which came after a first-innings deficit of 126 – a 447-minute study in contrast to England’s Bazball.
2. 139 vs Pakistan, Abu Dhabi 2018/19: You know the template by now. Trailing by 74 in the first innings, New Zealand became 60-4 in the second, before – obviously – Williamson (and Nicholls) intervened. The pair put on 212, paving the way for a historic win for New Zealand on Asian soil.
1. 242* vs Sri Lanka, Wellington 2015/16: A familiar template, but a genuine magnum opus. At one point, New Zealand led by only 24 in the third innings with five wickets in hand, but Williamson and BJ Watling batted for eight hours, putting on an unbroken 365 to turn the Test on its head. New Zealand converted a certain defeat into a 193-run win.
