NZ, Aussies in awe of Williamson

New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum has rated Kane Williamson's 140 in the first Test against Australia as the finest Kiwi innings he has seen.

Comparisons with Bradman may be a little premature.

But New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum has rated Kane Williamson's 140 in their 208-run first Test loss to Australia in Brisbane as the finest Kiwi innings he has seen.

And few would argue.

Statistically, Williamson has outscored Don Bradman as a Test No.3 at the age of 25 thanks to an unprecedented 12-month run spree.

Williamson could lay claim to being the world's best batsman after his Gabba haul helped him amass 2860 runs in a calendar year across all formats at 62.17.

His nearest rival is Australian captain Steve Smith (2758 at 72.57).

Even McCullum couldn't maintain his much-maligned modest approach by gushing over Williamson who backed up his 140 with an equally impressive 59 in the second dig.

"That was probably the best hundred I've seen from a New Zealander in the time I've been playing," said 95-Test veteran McCullum who made his debut for the Kiwis back in 2004.

"Just full of class and once again shows how good a player he is, and that he can score runs in any conditions against any attack all around the world.

"He's a huge positive out of this Test match."

No wonder Kiwi great Martin Crowe gushed before the 2015 World Cup: "we're seeing the dawn of probably our greatest ever batsman".

Williamson has now scored tons against all Test playing nations except Zimbabwe.

And eight of his 11 Test tons to date have been on foreign soil.

"He looked a quality player. He played beautifully in both innings," Smith said.

"He is a tough player to get out and hopefully we can come up with some plans for him to make sure we remove him early."

Australian coach Darren Lehmann said there were no prizes for guessing who they would be doing their homework on before the second Test in Perth starting on Friday.

"He has shown how good a player he has become - he played beautifully," he told the Cricket Australia website.

"We didn't execute what we wanted to do to him well enough - we hope to improve on that in Perth."


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Source: AAP



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