Swan songs: Ross Taylor, Stephan Myburgh bow out

HAMILTON, April 4: Ross Taylor made 14 for New Zealand against the Netherlands in the third one-day international on Monday, coming to the crease and leaving it to a standing ovation.
The match was Taylor’s 450th and last for New Zealand before he retires at the end of a 16-year international career.
The 38-year-old batsman played his last Test against South Africa earlier this year but decided to make this match on his home ground at Seddon Park his final bow.
His children MacKenzie, Jonty and Adelaide stood beside him during the national anthems and he came and went through an honour guard formed by Netherlands players.
Taylor played his first one-day international for New Zealand in 2006 and his first Test the following year. He went on to play 112 tests, scoring 7,683 runs including 19 centuries, and 236 one-day internationals in which he made 8,593 runs. He also scored 1,909 runs in 102 Twenty20 internationals.
Taylor’s last contribution to his team came in the form of a catch he took to dismiss the final Netherlands batter and helped New Zealand romp to a 115-run victory and sweep the three-match series 3-0 here on Monday.
The Blackcaps rode on centuries by opener Martin Guptill (106 – 123b, 11×4, 2×6) and Will Young (120 – 112b, 6×4, 4×6) to post a mammoth 333/8 in their allotted 50 overs.
In reply, the Netherlands were bowled out for 218 in 42.3 overs, seamer Matt Henry claiming 4/36 at Seddon Park here.
New Zealand’s sixth straight win in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League helped them leapfrog Pakistan to the eighth position on the virtue of a superior Net Run Rate (NRR). The Netherlands remain at the bottom of the 13-team table with 25 points from 10 games.
Also playing his final game, Stephan Myburgh began all guns blazing in Netherland’s run-chase of 334, launching an early assault on the Kiwi new-ball pair of Henry and Kyle Jamieson. The left-hander struck 64 off 43 in a brisk 81-run opening stand with Max O’Dowd, before falling to Colin de Grandhomme’s gentle medium pace.
The visitors faltered thereafter and folded out for 218 in 42.3 overs. The winning moment fittingly belonged to Taylor, who caught Aryan Dutt’s mistimed pull to draw curtains on a glorious 16-year-long career. (Agencies)