“Williamson in red ball is what Kohli is in white ball against Pakistan” - Twitterati hail Kiwi batter for sublime 200*

Former New Zealand captain Kane Williamson notched up a brilliant double hundred on Day 4 of the first Test against Pakistan at the National Stadium in Karachi on Thursday, December 29.

Williamson, who went to stumps on Day 3 at 105*, continued to frustrate Pakistan’s bowlers on Day 4 on a docile Karachi pitch. The 32-year-old batter brought up his double hundred in the 195th over of New Zealand’s first innings. He went to 199 by chipping Abrar Ahmed over cover for four. On the next ball, the right-handed batter took a single to bring up his fifth Test double ton.

New Zealand captain Tim Southee declared immediately after the former captain reached his double hundred as players headed to Tea on Day 4. Williamson was unbeaten on 200 off 395 balls, hitting 21 fours and a six. The Kiwis responded with 612/9 declared to Pakistan’s first innings total of 438.

Cricket fans on Twitter hailed the New Zealand batter for his terrific performance. Some even compared his feats against Pakistan in Test cricket to those of Virat Kohli in white-ball cricket against the same opponent.

Here are some reactions from the micro-blogging site to Williamson’s tremendous knock:

While Williamson was the standout performer in New Zealand’s first innings against Pakistan in Karachi, there were some good contributions from Tom Latham (113), Devon Conway (92), and Ish Sodhi (65).

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Kane Williamson breaks record for most Test double hundreds by a New Zealand batter

By notching up his fifth double hundred in the Karachi Test, Williamson went past former skipper Brendon McCullum (four) and moved to the top of the list among batters with the most Test double tons for his country.

With his latest knock, the 32-year-old also continued his great run against Pakistan in Test matches. In his last six red-ball knocks against Pakistan, he has registered scores of 89, 139, 129, 21, 238, and 200*.

Overall, the Kiwi batter has played 13 Test matches against Pakistan and has accumulated 1442 runs at an average of 68.66, with five hundreds.

His last two Test centuries have also come against Pakistan - 129 in Mount Maunganui in December 2020 and 238 in Christchurch in January 2021.