NZ vs SA 2nd Test: New Zealand defeats South Africa in their maiden Test series thanks to a century from Captain Kane Williamson

Early in the fourth day, South Africa gave New Zealand a fright or two, but they were never truly in the race after that.

With a 2-0 sweep of their debut Test series against South Africa, New Zealand completed a record chase, the highest at Seddon Park in Hamilton, thanks to a measured century from Kane Williamson in the fourth innings.

Williamson made up for his lack of participation in Dhaka by scoring back-to-back hundreds in the first Test against South Africa at Mount Maunganui. With his undefeated 133 in Hamilton, he now has seven centuries in seven Tests. Williamson and Will Young, who both hit 60 runs without conceding a wicket, put on an unbroken 152-run partnership for the fourth wicket on Friday, enabling New Zealand to win with seven wickets remaining.

It was a quintessential Williamson innings in which he faced challenges from the surface’s inconsistent bounce and turn, but he stayed unaffected and carried on with calmness.

With the score at 40 for 1, New Zealand’s objective was to survive the initial exchanges without suffering too much damage. However, they lost Tom Latham early on, with Dane Piedt scoring his second wicket of the innings and his seventh wicket overall. Piedt then put back Rachin Ravindra to make it three and eight, but that was the only triumph South Africa had that day. Despite their low scoring rate (67 and 66 in the opening two sessions, respectively), New Zealand was never truly in peril because they had a reliable Williamson in the lineup.

Williamson quietly made his way to 92 by the end of the afternoon after making 44 in the morning. He did this by hitting off the back foot, putting short balls away at deep midwicket, and twice racing down the track to score flat sixes. By teatime, New Zealand were 173 for 3, 94 points out of victory, and in a strong position. They arrived without any problems in the last session, following half-centuries for Williamson and Young.

Not long before the second new ball was taken, Williamson reached his 32nd Test century. He has now converted each of his past eight runs of 50 or more.

Young took the burden of playing support and handled it brilliantly, reaching his fifty off 118 balls. He was patient but still managed to find the boundary eight times, in contrast to the first innings when he perished for 36 after going for the adventurous shot. In the 62nd over, with eight on, he was given out caught behind by Shaun von Berg; however, the call was reversed upon review.

Piedt often beat the bat for South Africa, and seamer Dane Paterson bowled with discipline. Still, there wasn’t much more to discuss.

debutante swift With nine wickets in the Test, Will O’ Rourke was named Player of the Match; Williamson, with 403 runs in two Tests, won the series.