Twitter Reactions: Kane Williamson, Henry Nicholls create history as New Zealand hammer Sri Lanka on Day 2

After a steady start on rain-affected Day 1, New Zealand completely stole the show on Day 2 of the second Test against New Zealand. The duo of Kane Williamson and Henry Nicholls absolutely decimated the Lankan bowlers with their 363-run partnership as the Tim Southee-led side stands on top of the visiting side after their brilliant batting performance.

Notably, batting at number three, Williamson registered his sixth double-century in the longest format of the game. The 32-year-old was at his very best, scoring 215 runs off 296 deliveries while his partner Henry Nicholls registered his first double-century in red-ball cricket. Courtesy of their phenomenal partnership, New Zealand posted 580 runs on board as they declared after 123 overs. 

Interestingly, this was also the first time when two New Zealand cricketers smashed a double century in the same innings. Sri Lankan bowlers were clueless as none of their plans really worked in the middle. After their terrific performance in the first Test, it was expected that the Dimuth Karunaratne-led side will once again pose a lot of threat in the second match, but that hasn’t been the case so far. Notably, with the ball, Kasun Rajitha picked up two wickets while Dhananjaya de Silva and Prabath Jayasuriya picked one each.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka had a very poor start with the bat as well. Matt Henry dismissed opener Oshada Fernando for 6 runs while Doug Bracewell didn’t let Kusal Mendis open his tally. Currently, skipper Karunaratne is batting alongside Jayasuriya but none of them has looked very comfortable in the middle. Despite so, they would hope for a fresh start on Day 3 as the team has enough firepower to counter the Kiwi attack.

For New Zealand, they would hope to get another win under their belt and win their first Test series in almost two years. They have been brilliant with the ball so far as Sri Lanka were 26 for two after stumps on Day 2.

Here's how Twitter reacted -

BLACKCAPS@BLACKCAPS

Test double century number SIX for Kane Williamson! His second against Sri Lanka at the @BasinReserve. Follow play LIVE in NZ with @sparknzsport. #NZvSL

08:48 AM · Mar 18, 2023

1.3K154

ICC@ICC

A special knock from a special player 😍 Take a bow, Kane Williamson 🙌 Watch #NZvSL live on ICC.tv (in select regions) 📺 #WTC23 | 📝: bit.ly/NZvSL-Test2

08:40 AM · Mar 18, 2023

8.8K421

Wasim Jaffer@WasimJaffer14

Well played Kane Williamson 👏🏽 #doubleton #NZvSL

09:42 AM · Mar 18, 2023

11.4K287

Manoj Joshi@manojjoshimedia

2 centuries and 2 double centuries by Williamson in last 6 Tests..Nicholls also recovered from bad form by scoring a double century #kanewilliamson #henrynicholls #NZvSL #NZvsSL #Wellington #CricketTwitter #Cricket

11:34 AM · Mar 18, 2023

00

Nilesh G@oye_nilesh

Double Centurions for New Zealand! Kane Williamson scored 215 ✅ Henry Nicholls scored unbeaten 200✅ Partnership between Kane Williamson & Henry Nicholls - 363 runs✅ Domination! #NZvSL #NZvsSL pic.twitter.com/AUksCA4sBH https://t.co/BYaAqPTPKP

11:09 AM · Mar 18, 2023

40

...@AskShivang

Here is the Double Centuries by the top four in test cricket: #ViratKohli - 7 #KaneWilliamson - 6 #JoeRoot - 5 #SteveSmith - 4 #NZvsSL #INDvsAUS

11:05 AM · Mar 18, 2023

00

bishal mandal@bishal_181198

Look who is back with his consistency, scoring runs and taking his team out of those tough situation again. Kane Williamson bringing up his 6th test double century. #KaneWilliamson #NZvsSL

10:53 AM · Mar 18, 2023

21

I am ʙᴍᴄ ꜱᴜᴍᴏɴ@NZcricketfans

A maiden double century from Henry Nicholls. Congratulations! 👏 🇳🇿🏏 #NZvsSL

10:33 AM · Mar 18, 2023

41

mastercricket@Mastercricket7

New Zealand is on fire 🔥580 runs declaring. Ken and Nichols partnershipis very long. Ken played 215 run, while Nichols scored 200 runs. The team is in a strong position right now.#NZvsSL day2 #secondtest.

10:30 AM · Mar 18, 2023

10

Rohit G Banawlikar@RohitBanawlikar

Kane Williamson has crossed 8000 Test runs at an average of 55. At a time when everyone’s screaming their achievements out, here’s a guy who delivers silently. The epitome of the almost forgotten adage - slow & steady wins the race. #KaneWilliamson #NZvsSL

10:14 AM · Mar 18, 2023

20

vineet jacob@JacobVineet

Kane is no longer the captain but he is the one who still steadies the New Zealand ship #SLvsNZ #NZvsSL #CricketTwitter #NZvSL #SLvNZ

10:03 AM · Mar 18, 2023

20

CricketMAN2@ImTanujSingh

Kane Williamson - 215(296). Henry Nicholls - 200*(240). Partnerships - 363(465). Only first time in history two New Zealand batters scored double hundred in same Test innings and 3rd time in cricket history Kane & Henry done 350+ runs partnership twice in Tests!

09:55 AM · Mar 18, 2023

15318

Shreyam Sharma@yourstartupman

Cricket fan's life is on a loop! Agree? #NZvsSL #INDvsAUS #WTC #KaneWilliamson

09:54 AM · Mar 18, 2023

00

Somnath Chakraborty@Somnath44333169

Rajitha bowled in second pitch 😅😅 #NZvSL #nzvssl

09:53 AM · Mar 18, 2023

00

Amit Misra@amit6060

The most underrated guy in modern cricket🏏🏏🏏 Double hundred by Kane Williamson - his 6th in Test cricket. What a genius from New Zealand, Kane is back at his very best! #NZvsSL #INDvsAUS #WTC

09:53 AM · Mar 18, 2023

20

Deepak Chandran@vc_vattolli

New zealand has a batting machine that has a beard and is called Kane...loved the commentary #NZvsSL #KaneWilliamson

09:49 AM · Mar 18, 2023

00

Malik@abdulmm03

DDS has to have an immediate say on selection once he becomes captain. Guys like oshadha & mendis pushing 30 & averaging<35 shouldn’t be persisted with in tests. With mendis, u r destroying a LO career on an upward trajectory by playing him in tests. #SLvsNZ #NZvsSL

11:34 AM · Mar 18, 2023

30

Henry@henry_lee11

haven’t been the biggest henry nicholls fan recently but that’s a great knock #NZvsSL

09:39 AM · Mar 18, 2023

00

Dr.Karan Desai@Dr_DesaiKaran

It is career saving innings from Henry Nicholls. Good too see him score 200. Hope he will continue this form. #NZvsSL

09:38 AM · Mar 18, 2023

00

Barkha Joshi@bindasbarkha

To reach th WTC final, Srilanka had to win both test against New Zealand but not it seems that SL will lose 2nd test also. 1st test they gave fight but in 2nd test they can lose by inning. #Kanewillimson #NZvSL #NZvsSL #SLvNZ

09:16 AM · Mar 18, 2023

00

Jayesh (Fan Account)@_SarcasticChan

Kane Williamson in Tests in 2023 : ⦿ 9 Inns. ⦿ 556 Runs @ 69.50 Average ⦿ 3 Hundreds ⦿ 1 Double Hundred ⦿ Completes 8K test runs Klassy Kane in sizzling hot form! 🔥🛐 #NZvsSL

09:45 AM · Mar 18, 2023

257

Johns.@CricCrazyJohns

6th double hundred for Kane Williamson, the run machine of New Zealand, he stands up when New Zealand going through a tough phase in their cricket journey. The Greatest Test better of Kiwis.

08:37 AM · Mar 18, 2023

5.1K289

Jaya Suriyan@ImSurya05

Last 5 test scores of Kane Williamson : - 215(298). - 121 (194). - 1(11). - 4(5). - 132(282).

11:40 AM · Mar 18, 2023

00

Andrew McLean@McleanOnCricket

So nice to be back at the Basin Reserve on a beautiful Wellington day to witness some top batting from Kane Williamson and Henry Nicholls. #NZvSL

11:39 AM · Mar 18, 2023

60

Saran@saran_io

IMHO, Kane Williamson doesn't get the recognition he deserves like others in Cricket. He has been crafting history of his own without a fuss. Respect. #kiwi #cricket

11:26 AM · Mar 18, 2023

00

For a better experience: Download the CricTracker app from the IOS App Store and Google Play Store