KANE Williamson continued his impressive form to give New Zealand control of the second Test against Pakistan on Monday.

Williamson scored his 24th Test century and second in as many Tests on a strong day two for the Black Caps at Hagley Oval in Christchurch.

The right-hander finished the day unbeaten on 112 as New Zealand reached 286-3, trailing Pakistan by just 11 runs, with Henry Nicholls (89) also not out.

Williamson, who moved top of the ICC rankings for Test batsmen last week, was scratchy early before accelerating.

He needed 105 balls to reach his half-century but just another 35 to bring up his ton.

It came after Pakistan put themselves in a promising position by reducing the hosts, who lead the two-Test series 1-0, to 71-3.

The wickets of Tom Latham (33), Tom Blundell (16) and Ross Taylor (12) had Pakistan on a high, and they should have had Nicholls cheaply.

The left-hander was caught by Mohammad Rizwan on three, but Shaheen Afridi (1-45) overstepped.

Williamson and Nicholls attacked as the day went on and Pakistan had their troubles in the field, the former edging through Shan Masood and Haris Sohail in the slips on 82.

Masood dropped Williamson after the star New Zealander passed his century before Rizwan put down an easy chance off Nicholls – then on 86 – off Shaheen.

Nicholls hurt his calf late in the day but managed to get to stumps alongside Williamson on an excellent day for the Black Caps.

PAKISTAN 1st innings
Shan Masood lbw Tim Southee 0
Abid Ali c Tim Southee b Kyle Jamieson 25
Azhar Ali c Ross Taylor b Matt Henry 93
Haris Sohail c Henry Nicholls b Kyle Jamieson 1
Fawad Alam c BJ Watling b Kyle Jamieson 2
Mohammad Rizwan c BJ Watling b Kyle Jamieson 61
Faheem Ashraf c Ross Taylor b Kyle Jamieson 48
Zafar Gohar c Kyle Jamieson b Tim Southee 34
Shaheen Afridi c Henry Nicholls b Trent Boult 4
Mohammad Abbas Not Out 0
Naseem Shah c Tom Latham b Trent Boult 12
Extras 2b 9lb 0nb 0pen 6w 17
Total (83.5 overs) 297 all out
Fall of Wickets : 1-4 Khan, 2-66 Ali, 3-70 Sohail, 4-83 Alam, 5-171 Rizwan, 6-227 Ali, 7-260 Ashraf, 8-282 Khan, 9-285 Afridi, 10-

NEW ZEALAND 1st innings
Tom Latham c Haris Sohail b Shaheen Afridi 33
Tom Blundell lbw Faheem Ashraf 16
Kane Williamson Not Out 112
Ross Taylor c Shan Masood b Mohammad Abbas 12
Henry Nicholls Not Out 89
Extras 2b 6lb 9nb 0pen 7w 24
Total (85.0 overs) 286-3

Fall of Wickets : 1-52 Blundell, 2-52 Latham, 3-71 Taylor
To Bat : Watling, Mitchell, Jamieson, Southee, Henry, Boult

Bowling: Shaheen Afridi 19 -5 – 45 -1 (1nb),
Mohammad Abbas 20 – 7 – 37 – 1 (1nb), Naseem Shah 14 – 1 – 72 – 0 (1w) 7nb), Faheem Ashraf 18 – 4 – 55 -1(2w),
Shan Masood 2 – 0 – 17, Zafar Gohar 11 – 0 – 50 – 0.