Williamson all class in South Africa’s eyes
Of course, he was never going to go anywhere near blowing his own trumpet - Black Caps captain Kane Williamson is as self-effacing as they come - though deservedly for him, there was plenty of praise coming from other quarters about his latest masterful batting exploits.
Williamson, long-touted as New Zealand’s brightest batting prospect, once again stood tall for his country, in the hard-fought 1-0 series loss to South Africa, scoring two hundreds in four innings, to seal his place among Kiwi batting royalty.
His latest majestic man-of-thematch 176 at Seddon Park drew him level with the late Martin Crowe, on a record 17 centuries for New Zealand, while in the process surpassed 5000 test runs – the quickest to do so wearing the sil- ver fern, and the third-youngest of all-time.
But the 26-year-old is as much a master of modesty as he is of the back-foot punch through cover. As good at deflecting attention, as he is working a ball off the pads. So there was no surprise to hear him play down his latest feats.
‘‘Hogan [Crowe] is a very special player in our country, our best batsman, extremely stylish and scored a number of runs, he’s always set the benchmark and will continue to be the benchmark, I believe,’’ Williamson said, adding the stats weren’t big focuses of his.
‘‘I certainly try to focus much more on what I need to do at the time and try and do it as long as I can. Whether that’s 100, or less, or maybe more, you never know, but you’re always trying to get a few more to help the side. And that’s the most pleasing thing for me in this match.
’’It helped us get into a strong position, that’s the most satisfying part.’’
They say the most valuable compliments come from peers - opponents who have to slog it out it in the middle - and to that end Williamson had no shortage of adulation thrown his way by the Proteas. His opposite, Faf du Plessis, made special mention of him when summing things up post-match.
‘‘New Zealand played some good cricket, especially Kane,’’ he said. I would like to congratulate him on a good series. Two hundreds out of three games. If we can get Kane, that’s half the battle.’’
And the man largely charged with finding any chinks in what is continuing to be a steely solid armour - South Africa’s coach Russell Domingo - was also openly admirable, saying his players felt Williamson was ‘‘as good a player as they’ve ever played against’’.
‘‘We’ve played against some proper players - this team’s played against [Ricky] Ponting, they’ve played with [Jacques] Kallis, they’ve played against Steve Smith, and he’s up there, there’s no doubt about it.
‘‘It’s only his 65th test or something [61st], and for him to have 17 centuries is phenomenal. But also the way he goes about his business - he’s a quiet guy, he’s an unassuming guy, he just comes across as a really nice guy. I think there are one or two players that are actually quite happy when he gets tons because they are such good mates with him.
‘‘He’s a wonderful player, New Zealand are very fortunate to have him in their side.’’
With his latest masterpiece, Williamson returned his test batting average above 50 (51.16) and it will stay there until November, with the Black Caps’ next test series when they host West Indies.
From there, it’s just a wonder of how many more hundreds there are in the pipeline of what’s already a stellar career.