Kane Williamson retires from international cricket: Dissecting his stellar stats
What's the story
Arguably the greatest ever batter to have played for New Zealand, Kane Williamson has announced his retirement from international cricket. New Zealand Cricket confirmed the same on Friday. In a sensational 16-year international career, Williamson played 378 games for his country and set countless batting records. He also made a mark during his leadership tenure. Here are further details.
Career
Most international runs for NZ
As per ESPNcricinfo, the 35-year-old finishes as New Zealand's all-time leading international run-scorer with 19,346 runs at an average of 48.12. His tally includes 48 centuries, 103 fifties, and six double-centuries. Ross Taylor (18,199) is the only other batter to have tallied over 15,500 runs for the Kiwis. Last year, Williamson became the 16th player to complete 19,000 runs in international cricket.
Elite club
Williamson was a part of this club
Williamson, who made his international debut in 2010, emerged as one of the most technically sound batters. He is a member of the critically acclaimed Fab Four, which also includes Virat Kohli, Joe Root, and Steve Smith. He also led the Kiwis in all three formats from 2016 to 2024, where they made two ICC World Cup Finals, three semi-finals, and won the inaugural ICC World Test Championship in 2021.
Tests
Over 9,500 runs in Tests
Williamson's retirement comes midway through the ongoing three-Test series against England. In the series opener, Williamson has become the first New Zealand player to complete 9,500 Test runs. He finishes with 9,515 runs from 110 Tests. The batter's average of 54.06 is the fourth-best among batters with as many or more runs than Williamson. His tally includes 33 tons and 38 fifties (200s: 6).
Information
Williamson in a league of his own
No NZ batter other than Williamson has even 8,000 runs in Test cricket. Taylor (7,683) and Stephen Fleming (7,172) follow the batter in terms of Test runs for NZ. Williamson also has the most Test tons for the Kiwis.
ODIs
Over 7,000 runs in ODIs
Coming to his ODI stats, the right-handed batter racked up 7,256 runs across 175 games at an average of 48.69. In addition to 15 tons, he slammed 47 fifties. Williamson finished only behind Taylor (8,607), Fleming (8,007), and Martin Guptill (7,346) in terms of batters with the most ODI runs for the Kiwis.
T20Is
Second-most T20I runs for NZ
Williamson also finished as the second-highest run-scorer for New Zealand in T20I cricket. He racked up 2,575 runs from 90 T20I innings at an average of 33.44. The right-handed batter has a strike rate of 123.08. He primarily operated as an anchor in the format. Williamson also scored 18 half-centuries. Only Guptill (3,531) has scored more T20I runs for NZ.