Ross Taylor feels like he is coming into form just at the right time for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015.
The 30-year-old was the talking point of the 6th ANZ ODI in Dunedin yesterday as he returned to some of his best form with a well-constructed 96 runs off 102 balls.
The BLACKCAPS won the match by 120 runs and sealed the ANZ International Series against Sri Lanka 4 – 1 with one fixture still to come in Wellington on Thursday. Taylor was happy to play his part.
“I wasn’t out of form, I just wasn’t scoring any runs,” said Taylor after the match.
“I haven’t had a high score for a while so it was nice to have a decent bat. I think the team is progressing well and heading in the right direction.”
Taylor feels that this BLACKCAPS side is well placed to be a strong contender at the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup as there are key contributors with bat and ball right across the park.
After a recent lean spell this series, he said it was a good feeling to make a contribution of his own.
“It is about winning and contributing. We are still winning games so you can probably carry me for a little bit, but at the same time you have your own standards and you want to contribute to a team performance. I wasn’t doing that. [Yesterday] was a start, but hopefully I am scoring runs when it comes to the World Cup.”
He enjoys batting with the ultra-consistent Kane Williamson, who constructed a quality 97 from 95 balls in effortless fashion yesterday, in the middle of the BLACKCAPS batting order.
The pair had a quiet word last night after they were involved in an unnecessary mix-up that led to Williamson being run out only three short of his fifth ODI century.
“He was actually very good about it,” Taylor said of Williamson. “It is a part of cricket. It is disappointing. We haven’t had the best running between the wickets [record] in recent time, but hopefully we can rectify that.
“It would have been nice to get a hundred with Kane, it just wasn’t meant to be.”
Taylor admitted that back in the middle of January when the BLACKCAPS lost their only match in the ANZ ODI Series by six wickets, he was working on a few things that didn’t work.
“So it is nice to work on a few things that have worked. Just to keep it all really simple.”
Former BLACKCAPS skipper Martin Crowe has been part of that process. Crowe, who mentors Taylor and opener Martin Guptill, spent some time with Taylor ahead of the ODI at Eden Park.
“I had a session with Hogan before the Auckland game and we worked on using the feet a bit more as well as some others things and go with that little bit of a downward spiral to hopefully be a better player for it.”
Taylor looks back at his best when he is delivering powerful cut shots through the cover-point region – which he did with regularity yesterday at University Oval. But the Central Stags batsman feels like playing in the “V” is the key to him building a big innings.
“I get myself in trouble when I try to play square too early,” he said. “If I can play straight and if they bowl in that area [to cut] then your instinct takes over, but it is when you start looking for that shot too early is when you start to get into a bit of trouble.”
One of the old heads in the young and exciting BLACKCAPS outfit, Taylor paid tribute to Daniel Vettori who made history yesterday by becoming the most capped New Zealand crciketet in ODI.
The left-arm spinner, who debuted for the BLACKCAPS way back in 1997, usurped fellow former skipper Stephen Fleming (279) when he played his 280th ODI.
“Dan didn’t want a big hooha about the event, but it was a special moment for a great New Zealand player who will go down in our history as one of our best,” said Taylor.
“I think he has been bowling well for most of the game and yesterday he seemed to be able to get the ball to hold a little bit. Mahela [Jayawardene] and Sanga [Kumar Sangakkara] are very good players of spin and he was able to bowl very well and dot them up on a very good wicket. There have been some things said about him and Nathan [McCullum], but the way he bowled [yesterday] it just showed you his class.”
And if the sixth ANZ ODI was anything to go by, expect Ross Taylor to continue to show his class and underline why he is such a vital member of this BLACKCAPS batting line-up.
