After being 94 not out overnight, New Zealand captain Kane Williamson reached his 23rd Test hundred earlier on Day 2 of the Boxing Day Test against Pakistan in Mount Manganui. 

Williamson continued from where he left earlier in the summer versus West Indies and struck a vital 129 to push the Kiwis towards some safety after walking upto the crease on Saturday with his team struggling at 13/2.

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The Black Caps had earlier lost Henry Nicholls (56) just after he completed his important half-century. 

At 281/5, with Williamson and Nicholls, the last pair of specialist batsmen, gone, the Pakistanis would've expected to finish off the proceedings quickly. However, their plans were derailed as wicketkeeper batsman BJ Watling and the rest of the batsmen got together and took their team past the 400-mark. 

Watling only enhanced his reputation with another gutsy knock of 73 while Mitchell Santner (19), Kyle Jamieson (32) and Neil Wagner (19) also made crucial runs from their end. 

Shaheen Afridi (4/109) and Yasir Shah (3/113) picked up 7 wickets between them for Pakistan but the team needed their attack to collectively come up with a much better performance. 

After the change of innings, visiting openers Shan Masood (10) and Abid Ali (19*) withstand the Kiwi pace attack for about 15 overs quite nicely, before Masood was dismissed off fast bowler Jamieson (1/15). Nightwatchman Mohammad Abbas (0*) and Abid then saw their team through to the end. 

Brief Scores: 

Pakistan 30/1 in 20 overs (Abid Ali 19*, Shan Masood 10; Kyle Jamieson 1/15) trail New Zealand 431/10 in 155 overs (Kane Williamson 129*, BJ Watling 73; Shaheen Afridi 4/109) by 401 runs