Henry Nicholls slams his maiden double-ton in Tests: Stats
New Zealand batter Henry Nicholls smoked his maiden double-ton in Tests in the ongoing second and final match versus Sri Lanka. It was indeed a power-packed knock from the southpaw and he accomplished the milestone off just 240 deliveries. Meanwhile, it was overall his ninth Test hundred and a second one against the Lankan team. Here we look at his stats in Tests.
Nicholls powers NZ to a strong score
New Zealand declared their first innings at 580/4 thanks to Nicholls. The declaration came right after the southpaw touched the milestone as he walked back unbeaten on 200. His knock was laced with 15 boundaries and four maximums. The batter's final 100 runs came off just 67 balls. Notably, Nicholls stitched a 363-run third-wicket stand with Kane Williamson, who also mustered a double-ton (215).
A look at his numbers in Tests
Standing in his 54th Test, Nicholls has now raced to 2,948 runs in the format at a decent average of 38.78. Besides nine tons, he also owns 12 fifties in the format. Meanwhile, Nicholls has now equaled former NZ skipper Stephen Fleming in terms of Test tons. Among active Kiwi batters, only Williamson (28) and Tom Latham (13) own more Test centuries.
Maiden double-ton in Tests
As mentioned, this was his maiden double-hundred in whites. His previous highest score of 174 was recorded versus West Indies in December 2020. He now owns four 150-plus scores in Tests. As per ESPNcricinfo, he became the 18th NZ batter to muster a double-hundred in Tests. Against Sri Lanka, Nicholls has raced to 518 runs in six Tests at 74 (100s: 2, 50: 1).
Do you know?
Williamson and Nicholls became the first NZ pair to slam double-tons in the same innings. As per statistician Deepu Narayan, this is the 18th instance overall of two batters accomplishing the feat in the same innings.
Historic partnership with Williamson
Nicholls and Williamson recorded the fifth-highest partnership (363) by an NZ pair in Tests. The duo also owns the third place on this list, having added 369 runs versus Pakistan in 2021. They became the third pair after Don Bradman & Bill Ponsford and Ricky Ponting & Michael Clarke to record multiple 350-plus partnerships in Tests. Both Australian pairs have two such stands apiece.
How did NZ's first innings pan out?
Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bowl at the Basin Reserve in Wellington. While Williamson and Nicholls starred with double-tons on Day 2, opener Devon Conway's 78 headlined the opening day's play. Tom Latham managed 21. Kasun Rajitha (2), Dhananjaya de Silva (1), and Prabath Jayasuriya (1) were the wicket-takers for SL. Notably, the Kiwis are 1-0 up in the series.
