On March 5, during the second semi-final of the Champions Trophy 2025 against South Africa, former skipper Kane Williamson became the first player from New Zealand to cross the landmark of 19,000 runs across all formats.
🚨 KANE WILLIAMSON CREATED HISTORY 🚨
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) March 5, 2025
– Williamson becomes the first New Zealand player to complete 19,000 runs in International cricket 🤯 pic.twitter.com/y33RfPEAtI
The 34-year-old reached the milestone figure with a single as he completed 27 runs in the ongoing match. He went on to score his 15th ODI ton before being dismissed to Wiann Mulder’s bowling and meeting Lungi Ngidi at short-fine leg. His knock of 102 runs included 10 boundaries and two sixes. In the process, he also completed three consecutive hundreds against South Africa.
Williamson has now taken his ODI runs tally to 7,225 in 164 innings. In 105 Tests, he has accumulated 9,276 while scoring 2,575 in 90 appearances in the T20 format.
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After winning the toss, captain Mitchell Santner chose to bat first in Lahore. They stuck with the same playing XI combination as their last loss against India in the league stage. Meanwhile, South Africa skipper Temba Bavuma returned to the playing XI after missing out on the last match.
The Kiwis rode on centuries from Williamson (102) and young Rachin Ravindra (108). Daryl Mitchell (49) and Glenn Phillips (49) played wonderful knocks before New Zealand started to lose wickets in bundles. Pacer Lungi Ngidi returned with a three-for.
New Zealand put up a highly competitive score of 362/6. The Proteas are expected to have a hard time chasing it as they lack a strong middle order and rely on a few individual players.
The winner of this fixture will travel to Dubai to meet India in the final of the Champions Trophy 2025 on March 9.
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