Sometimes it pays to be a librarian.
When Brendon McCullum unleashed a blitzkrieg against Sri Lanka in the Boxing Day Test Kane Williamson said it felt “Like I was the library in a theme park”.
McCullum smashed the ball to all parts of Hagley Oval and came within five runs of claiming the fastest double century in Test cricket.
At the Basin Reserve on Tuesday Williamson was a quiet achiever as he fastidiously compiled a Test-best 242 not out to combine with mate BJ Watling to set a new world record of 365 for a sixth-wicket partnership.
Williamson said inspiration for his marathon innings which lasted more than 10 hours came from McCullum’s own record-breaking triple century at the same ground almost a year earlier.
“Brendon showed it last time we were here. That knock was amazing, but I look at that knock because the team needed him to score 300 and that was why it was such a special knock.”
Starting the day with just a 118-run lead and only five wickets left, another special knock was needed and Williamson said their priority was to bat time but did not have an inkling of where that would take them.
“We were slightly ahead of their score coming into today so it was important that we kept our games tight.
“It is great we were forming such a big partnership, you can’t come into the day and assume something like that will happen.”
Watling, who hit an unbeaten 142, now has his name next to both best stands for the sixth wicket after the pair eclipsed his and McCullum’s stand of 352 set against India in February.
And Williamson believes he has to rank as one of the best wicketkeeper-batsmen in the game after taking 40 dismissals last year to lead the world’s glovemen and a further five in the first innings in Wellington.
“He is certainly right up there with both facets of the game.”
The partnership allowed McCullum to declare on 524-5 to set the tourists 390 to win the Test and level the two-match series. They begin the final day on 45-1.
WORLD RECORD SIXTH WICKET PARTNERSHIP
365* Kane Williamson and BJ Watling v Sri Lanka, Wellington 2015
352 (previous best) Watling & Brendon McCullum v India, Wellington 2014
HIGHEST SCORES BY A NZ BATSMAN
302 Brendon McCullum v India, Wellington 2014
299 Martin Crowe v Sri Lanka, Wellington 1991
274* Stephen Fleming v Sri Lanka, Colombo 2003
267* Bryan Young v Sri Lanka, Dunedin 1997
262 Fleming v South Africa, Cape Town 2006
259 Glenn Turner v West Indies, Georgetown 1972
242* Kane Williamson v Sri Lanka, Wellington 2015
FASTEST NZ BATSMAN TO 3000 TEST RUNS
Kane Williamson 71 innings
Martin Crowe 73 innings
Ross Taylor 75 innings
(* beside score denotes `not out’)
