Williamson shrugs off record 18th Test ton

New Zealand are in control at the end of a rain-affected second day in their day-night Test against England, with Kane Williamson scoring a record 18th century.

New Zealand's Kane Williamson signals his century.

New Zealand's Kane Williamson, against England in Auckland, has scored a record 18th Test century. (AAP)

Kane Williamson has brushed off his record-breaking 18th Test century for New Zealand to dwell on his own dismissal after a wet second day in the day-night encounter with England.

There was no play after Friday's dinner break in Auckland, with the heavens opening at Eden Park just before 5:00pm and the umpires calling it a day at 9:00pm.

The Black Caps are 4-229, 171 runs ahead of England, who had been bowled out on Thursday for just 58 - their sixth-lowest Test total.

Kiwi captain Williamson had enough time during Friday's brief action to score the necessary nine runs after resuming unbeaten on 91.

He brought up his century with a boundary down the ground, followed by a series of patient singles to the legside and then a sneaky single at gully.

The 27-year-old surpasses the legendary Martin Crowe as New Zealand's highest Test century scorer, a record which had stood for 23 years.

He was trapped lbw by James Anderson for 102 off 220 balls - a dismissal that caused him no end of grief, despite his record-breaking achievement.

"Personally, I've never focused too much on stats - it's always been about trying to do my best for the team and that's why today was frustrating," Williamson said.

"It was a fairly good delivery and you walk off and that's part and parcel of the game, but you want to keep going and contribute more and more.

"It would've been nice to still be out there, to be honest."

Henry Nicholls, who had anchored for Williamson at the other end, is 49 not out from 143 deliveries, while BJ Watling is on 17.

England were embarrassed on day one, torn to shreds by Kiwi paceman Trent Boult and Tim Southee, who took all 10 wickets.

They were skittled in less than 21 overs.

Williamson said Boult and Southee had given New Zealand a solid base for victory, but they couldn't be complacent.

More rain is forecast for much of the weekend.

"We haven't been able to get away on the scoreboard but guys have really put in some tough yards to lay platforms - saying that, the pink-ball game, though it hasn't been played a lot, we've seen in most of them that things can change," Williamson said.

"There's heaps of things you can't control and, with the pink ball, there's a number of things that come into your thinking on how you want to do it.

"So it's important we see how things unfold."

Play will resume at 1:30pm on Saturday, weather permitting.


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Source: AAP


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