Cricket world in awe of 'one of the great ODI knocks'
Ross Taylor is the toast of the cricket world after leading New Zealand to victory over England with an unbeaten 181 on one leg.
Taylor played through the pain to score a remarkable century and seal a series-levelling win against England on Wednesday.
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Taylor limped through much of his innings in Dunedin after aggravating a thigh injury, but batted on to compile a career-best innings and make it 2-2 in the series with one to play.
New Zealand ended on 339 for five in reply to England's 335 for nine, winning by five wickets and taking the five-match series to a crunch decider in Christchurch on Saturday.
Taylor scored 17 fours and six sixes as New Zealand reached the target with three balls to spare, wincing with pain after every shot in the latter half of his innings.
"It's still sinking in," he said after tearfully leaving the field to a standing ovation, revealing team medics gave him the option of retiring hurt due to the pain.
"I was glad I made the decision to stay out there and swing."
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson rated Taylor's innings as "one of the great one-day knocks" and said he hoped the batsman would be fit for the decider.
"Ross's knock was just sensational, he's kind of been batting like that all year," he said.
"Hopefully his injuries are minor and we can see him in the next game."
Congrats @RossLTaylor- next level mate! https://t.co/onxj1CeynF
— Brendon McCullum (@Bazmccullum) March 7, 2018
@RossLTaylor oh my word. One of the best. Hell of a knock and a tremendous win. Get the other eye checked mate just in case!!! Congratulations.
— Stephen Fleming (@SPFleming7) March 7, 2018
Have some of that. Stunning Innings. Well batted Arjuna @RossLTaylor #NZvENG
— Scott Styris (@scottbstyris) March 7, 2018
Fabulous innings from Ross Taylor .. great to witness .. and a great man too
— David 'Bumble' Lloyd (@BumbleCricket) March 7, 2018
Wah Darji ji , that was special. Brilliant innings, Master ji @RossLTaylor
— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) March 7, 2018
Saw the closing stages of #NZvENG. What a lovely game of cricket and good to see @RossLTaylor back in form. If I was an IPL franchise him and Root would be top of my list of replacement batsmen.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) March 7, 2018
Great to see @RossLTaylor is such red hot form, mighty innings today 181* off just 147 balls. #NZvENG #ODIseries
— Tom Moody (@TomMoodyCricket) March 7, 2018
This Ross Taylor innings - on one leg - could be one of the greatest innings we’ve seen from a Blackcaps in ODI... https://t.co/znynILDJ8g
— Veitchy on Sport (@veitchynz) March 7, 2018
If there are tears in heaven right now, they're coming from Martin Crowe watching this innings from his protege Ross Taylor. One of the greats. #Kiwigrit #allclass
— Marc Hinton (@marchintonffx) March 7, 2018
Highest scores outside top-3 batting positions in ODIs:
189* Viv Richards v Eng, 1984
181* Ross Taylor v Eng, today
181 Viv Richards v SL, 1987
Today is Richards' birthday, tomorrow is Taylor's birthday. #NZvEng— Bharath Seervi (@SeerviBharath) March 7, 2018
Taylor's heroics in scoring his 19th ODI century overshadowed a fine batting performance from England, marred by a late collapse that cost them dearly.
Jonny Bairstow blazed his way to 138 off 106 balls and Joe Root grafted out a hard-fought 102 before England self-destructed late in their innings.
England captain Eoin Morgan had no explanation for the collapse but was confident his side's deep batting line-up would not fail so spectacularly again.
"It isn't ideal. Normally one of us (batsmen) comes off, so it is a first," he said.
"We won't look into it too much at the moment if he happens consistently we'll have to do something."
New Zealand's chase started disastrously when openers Martin Guptill and Colin Munro both went for ducks.
Kane Williamson and Taylor rebuilt with an 84-run partnership before England's star all-rounder Ben Stokes dismissed the New Zealand captain at 45 in the 17th over.
Taylor and Tom Latham then combined for a 187-run partnership, with Latham contributing 71.
Taylor's injury came when he was on 109 and had to dive to avoid a run-out, inflaming the thigh strain that forced him out of the previous match in the series.
Unable to run freely, he concentrated on hitting boundaries, taking New Zealand to the position where they needed 80 off the final 10 overs.
with AFP