Lees was lucky at the start of his innings, snicking a ball wide of second slip on three, but soon found his touch and showed why he has already scored 4104 first-class runs with a magnificent display of timing, placement and above all concentration.
His 100 came off 113 balls with a neat 50 in boundaries, and his 200 came off 234 balls with 20 fours and one six.
Lees is not finished yet though.
"First and foremost I am obviously delighted but I am looking to bat for another couple of hours [Sunday] to be honest. The job's not done and we have to make sure we really nail it," he said.
Lees admits to being a bit rusty at the start of his innings, with just two limited-overs knocks for Tauranga Boys' College in the Baywide competition to prepare.
"I think the wicket was quite slow and I hadn't played any three-day cricket or four-day cricket since September. The partnership with Pete [Drysdale] was really valuable and puts us in a good position. He would be disappointed in how he got out but his innings was vital to our day's success."
Counties Manukau may need to check their run-up measuring. The eight bowlers used managed to bowl 15 no-balls between them, which may well be another record.
The connection with the Hawke Cup and Lees could not be any stronger.
In 2015, aged 22, Lees was named Yorkshire captain in both one-day formats - the youngest Yorkshire captain since Lord Hawke in 1882.
Hawke was the first amateur captain of Yorkshire and the county's most successful captain, winning the County Championship a record eight times.
He presented the cup named after him in New Zealand in 1910.
The Hawke Cup challenge continues today and tomorrow at Bay Oval. 10.30am start.
First innings: Bay of Plenty 339-3 (Alex Lees 207no, Peter Drysdale 84, Tom MacRury 32).
