Ross looks to Taylor a perfect final World Cup

Extravagant Kiwi batsman Ross Taylor can pull and sweep world-class bowling attacks with inch-perfect precision. He is known as the ‘Pallekele Plunderer’ for his stunning 55 off the last 13 deliveries against Pakistan in the 2011 ICC World Cup en route to his career-best unbeaten 131 and is one of the men New Zealand will be looking at to tailor a maiden World Cup triumph for them in what will be his last campaign.

The right-handed middle-order batsman has scored 4,913 runs at an average of 41.75 in ODIs with a strike rate of 82.47 in 151 matches for the Kiwis. His journey in international cricket had started back in 2006 against West Indies in Napier. His debut, however, was underwhelming as a mix-up in the middle between him and Scott Styris left him stranded when Dinesh Ramdin whipped off the bails. But his aggressive 10-ball 15 provided a glimpse of what was to come and in his next outing with the bat, he delivered with an unbeaten 128 against Sri Lanka.

His first innings of prominence outside of home conditions came in early 2007 in Hobart where he scored a defiant 84 when the whole team failed against a premier Australian bowling attack.

Taylor averages over 30 against all teams in ODIs but struggled because of injuries in his early years. However, he soon overcame them and debuted in Tests against South Africa in their 2007-08 series. His start in Tests was decidedly underwhelming as he was unable to tackle the bounce of the Proteas pitches and was dropped from the home series against Bangladesh.

But, like in the ODIs, a career-defining innings was just around the corner and when he played against England in his third Test, he scored 120 in Hamilton to announce his arrival in the game’s longest format. He was to repeat the feat just two months later when New Zealand travelled to England, scoring an unbeaten 154 at Old Trafford in Manchester.

But while he found joy in the white kit, his form in ODIs had become indifferent as he was unable to perform against the big teams and took to bullying the minnows. He scored a century against Bangladesh in Chittagong in October and two fifties against Ireland and Scotland in July.

However, he was soon back to his best and was chosen to lead the side in 2010 after Daniel Vettori and Brendon McCullum opted out. Taylor was captain of the side for two years but his poor relation with coach Mike Hesson forced him to stand down as skipper. Brendon McCullum became Kiwi captain in all three formats of the game in his stead.

Under Taylor’s captaincy, New Zealand had played 13 Tests and won four of them, and in 20 ODIs the Kiwis bagged six victories. His win ratio is underwhelming, the captaincy and the added pressure that comes along with it brought the best out of Taylor and his average improved in both Tests and ODIs.



The man from Lower Hutt, Wellington has played 14 matches in two World Cups. While he has a decent average of 39.18 and has scored his 431 runs at a strike rate of 81.32, he is yet to consistently set the world alight in the sport’s biggest stage despite scoring two half-centuries and that 131 against Pakistan.

Taylor will therefore be looking to improve his own personal performance in World Cups and if he does so, the man who succeeded him as captain may well have his hands around the trophy on March 29.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 17^th,  2015.

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