Kane Williamson surpasses Ross Taylor to become New Zealand's all-time leading run-scorer

New Zealand stalwart Kane Williamson has added yet another feather to his already illustrious cap. He has now become his country's leading run-scorer in international cricket.

The record was previously held by his former teammate Ross Taylor. The former New Zealand batsman brought down curtains on his illustrious international career after scoring 18,1999 runs across formats.

Taylor scored 7683 runs in Tests, 8607 runs in ODIs, and 1909 runs in T20Is. He hit 40 centuries and 93 half-centuries across formats in international cricket.

Kane Williamson broke Taylor's record on Sunday (September 22) while batting in the second innings of the first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle. The right-handed batsman needed 72 runs in the game to become New Zealand's all-time leading run-scorer in international cricket.

He scored 55 runs in the first innings and went on to break Taylor's record in the second innings during his 30-run knock.

Kane Williamson is also New Zealand's leading run-scorer in Tests and is the only batsman from his country to reach the 8000-run mark in the longest format of the game. In T20Is, he is the second leading run-scorer while in ODIs, he is at the fifth spot. Overall, Williamson now has 18,213 runs to his name in 359 matches across formats.

Most runs for New Zealand in international cricket:

• Kane Williamson – 18,213
• Ross Taylor – 18,199
• Stephen Fleming – 15,289
• Brendon McCullum – 14,676
• Martin Guptill – 13,463

The overall record belongs to former India batsman Sachin Tendulkar. The legendary batsman scored a staggering 34357 runs in international cricket. Tendulkar is also the only player to reach the 30,000-run mark in the game. He is followed by Kumar Sangakkara and Ricky Ponting.

Kane Williamson's international career:

Kane Williamson has been one of the best all-format batsmen in the world in the last one decade or so. He made his debut in international cricket in 2010 and did not take long to become an indispensable part of his team across all three formats.

So far, he has played 101 Tests for the Black Caps and has scored a record 8828 runs with the help of 32 centuries and 35 half-centuries. He also led New Zealand to glory in the 2021 World Test Championship final. In ODIs, Williamson has scored 6810 runs in 165 games with the help of 13 centuries and 45 half-centuries.

Under his captaincy, New Zealand qualified for the final of the 2019 World Cup. In T20Is, he played 93 games for his team and scored 2575 runs including 18 fifties. Under his captaincy, New Zealand finished runners-up in the 2021 T20 World Cup.