Kane Williamson Needs 72 Runs Against Afghanistan To Become NZ’s Leading Run Scorer In International Cricket

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posted on 2 weeks ago — updated on 1 second ago

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Former captain Kane Williamson will become the all-time leading run scorer for New Zealand in international cricket if he manages to score at least 72 runs in the one-off Test against Afghanistan.

New Zealand will face Afghanistan in a one-off Test match, which is set to take place at Greater Noida Sports Complex Ground in India from Monday (September 9) onwards. Tim Southee will lead the Kiwis in the first-ever red-ball match against the Afghans, and during the match, legendary New Zealand batter and former captain Kane Williamson will have a chance to create history and become the all-time leading run scorer for the Kiwis in international cricket.

The 33-year-old right-handed batter, who led New Zealand to the 2021 World Test Championship title, has 18,128 runs to his name in 358 international matches played so far. He needs 72 more runs to break former captain Ross Taylor’s record and take No. 1 position.

Most runs for New Zealand in international cricket

Ross Taylor – 18,199
Kane Williamson – 18,128
Stephen Fleming – 15,289
Brendon McCullum – 14,676
Martin Guptill – 13,463

During his 16-year-long international career, Taylor played in 450 matches for the Black Caps and scored 18,199 runs. He amassed a total of 7683 runs in 112 Tests, 8607 runs in 236 ODIs, and 1909 runs in 102 T20Is. Williamson, on the other hand, has 8743 runs to his name in Tests, 6810 runs in ODIs, and 2575 runs in T20Is.

He is the all-time leading run scorer for New Zealand in Tests and has scored three centuries in the four Tests played so far in 2024.

Kane, who came through the U-19 ranks, will be a key player for New Zealand in the coming months, as after a one-off Test against Afghanistan, Kiwis will travel to Sri Lanka to face the Islanders in a two-match Test series and then return to India for a three-match Test series.

The series opener between India and New Zealand is scheduled to take place at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on October 16, and the next two red-ball matches will be played in Pune (October 24-28) and Mumbai (November 1-5).

Before facing New Zealand, India will play a two-match Test series against Bangladesh in September. The first Test between India and Bangladesh will be played at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai from September 19 onwards, and Green Park Stadium of Kanpur will host the second and final Test from September 27.