Kane Williamson smashes fastest CLT20 ton to lead Northern Knights to victory over Cape Cobras

Kane Williamson struck the fastest CLT20 hundred, off just 48 deliveries

Raipur, Sep 19 (IANS) New Zealand side Northern Knights beat Cape Cobras by 33 runs (D/L method) in a rain-affected Champions League Twenty20 clash at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium hereon Friday.

Chasing Knights' 206/5, the Cobras were batting at 44/2 in 7.2 when the skies opened up. To win the contest, the South African side needed to be at a score of 77.

Put in to bat, the Knights put on a stiff total on the back of three innings from Anton Devcich, Kane Williamson and wicketkeeper-batsman B.J. Watling.

Openers Devcich (67) and Williamson (101 not out) gave the Knights a fantastic 140-run opening-wicket partnership. After Devcich fell, Williamson blasted the Cobras bowlers all over the ground to score his century and take his side well past the 200-mark.

Williamson displayed an array of scintillating strokes in his maiden T20 hundred. Coming off 48 deliveries, it was also the fastest century in CLT20 history. It was the 7th hundred in the tournament’s history and Williamson became the 6th batsman after Andrew Puttick, David Warner, Daniel Harris, Neil Broom and Quinton de Kock to reach the three-figure mark in CLT20.

He was given good support towards the end from Watling, who provided a quick fire 32 from 20 balls. Charl Langeveldt and Vernon Philander picked up two wickets each for the Cobras.

In reply, the Cobras were struggling with two wickets down when the rain stopped play and eventually forced the decision on the Duckworth-Lewis method.

Brief scores:

Northern Knights 206/5 in 20 overs (Kane Williamson 101 not out, Anton Devcich 67, B.J. Watling 32; Charl Langeveldt 2/27, Vernon Philander 2/39) beat Cape Cobras 44/2 in 7.2 overs (Hashim Amla 20, Robin Peterson 17 not out) (D/L method).