India, March 6 -- Wednesday couldn't have been the first time Kane Williamson reached a one-day hundred with a boundary. But to shuffle across the stumps and scoop a slower off-cutter over the wicketkeeper's head certainly had a touch of novelty to it. Also bordering on audacious was the shot to get to his fifty-coming down the track and not getting to the pitch of the ball, yet going ahead with the flick that landed just short of mid-on. Two wild hits, to be more accurate two extremely uncharacteristic shots, underpin a genuine intent to catch the field off guard.

Which is a break from the past because Williamson's image as a stylist in strife is immersed in his ability to stay rooted in the tried and tested. Flowing boundaries, measure...