Kane Williamson raises his bat after reaching three figures against South Africa earlier in 2024

Kane Williamson checked off another major career milestone, becoming the first New Zealander to score 9,000 Test runs and just the 19th player to do so globally.

Williamson's 26th second innings run in the ongoing Christchurch Test against England took him to the landmark.

He did so in his 182nd innings in Test cricket, making him the eighth quickest to reach the milestone by that particular metric.

Compared to his direct contemporaries, Williamson is the second quickest of the famed Fab Four to reach 9,000 Test runs. Steve Smith was the fastest, reaching it in 174 innings. Only Kumar Sangakkara has ticked off 9,000 runs in fewer innings (172).

Joe Root and Virat Kohli, meanwhile, checked off the milestone in 196 and 197 innings respectively with the former India captain only having done so last month in the Bengaluru Test against New Zealand.

In the overall list, Williamson is nestled in between Sachin Tendulkar and Younis Khan in eighth place.

The former New Zealand skipper, 34, is enjoying an extraordinarily consistent second half of his Test career. Remarkably, Williamson has averaged above 50 in every single calendar year since 2017. In that period, Williamson has averaged more than 62 across 47 Tests.

His overall career record compares increasingly favourably with the other members of the Fab Four. His career Test batting average is approaching the 55-mark, well ahead of Root (50.81) and Kohli (48.13) and just behind Smith (56.40). With Smith well below his best form, it is a very likely prospect that Williamson's average stands above his rivals sooner rather than later.

Fastest to 9,000 Test runs, full list

Player Country Innings to 9,000 Test runs
Kumar Sangakkara Sri Lanka 172
Steve Smith Australia 174
Rahul Dravid India 176
Brian Lara West Indies 177
Ricky Ponting Australia 177
Mahela Jayawardene Sri Lanka 178
Sachin Tendulkar India 179
Kane Williamson New Zealand 182
Younis Khan Pakistan 184
Jacques Kallis South Africa 188
Sunil Gavaskar India 192
Graeme Smith South Africa 195
Joe Root England 196
Virat Kohli India 197
Alastair Cook England 204
Hashim Amla South Africa 204
Allan Border Australia 207
Steve Waugh Australia 216
Shivnarine Chanderpaul West Indies

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