Ross Taylor

For other people named Ross Taylor, see Ross Taylor (disambiguation).

Ross Taylor

Taylor playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2009.
Personal information
Full name	Luteru Ross Poutoa Lote Taylor
Born	(1984-03-08) 8 March 1984 Lower Hutt, Wellington, New Zealand
Nickname	Rosco, Pallekele Plunderer
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Batting	Right-hand bat
Bowling	Right-arm off break
Role	Top-order Batsman
International information
National side	New Zealand
Test debut (cap 234)	8 November 2007 v South Africa
Last Test	3 January 2015 v Sri Lanka
ODI debut (cap 144)	1 March 2006 v West Indies
Last ODI	29 March 2015 v Australia
ODI shirt no.	3
Domestic team information
Years	Team
2002–present	Central Districts
2008–2010	Royal Challengers Bangalore
2009–2010	Victoria
2010	Durham
2011	Rajasthan Royals
2012; 2014	Delhi Daredevils
2013	Pune Warriors India
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA Matches 63 159 116 197 Runs scored 4,693 5,134 7,845 6,701 Batting average 45.56 41.40 42.17 41.88 100s/50s 12/25 12/30 18/42 16/42 Top score 217* 131* 217* 132* Balls bowled 96 42 666 318 Wickets 2 0 6 3 Bowling average 24.00 – 60.66 80.66 5 wickets in innings 0 – 0 0 10 wickets in match 0 n/a 0 n/a Best bowling 2/4 – 2/4 1/13 Catches/stumpings 103/– 103/– 156/– 127/–
Source: ESPNcricinfo, 3 February 2015

Luteru Ross Poutoa Lote Taylor (born 8 March 1984), more commonly known as Ross Taylor, is a New Zealand cricketer and former national captain. He previously captained the New Zealand Under-19 side in youth internationals. Taylor has a highest List A score of 132* in the State Shield domestic one-day competition in 2003–04, and a first class best of 217 in the State Championship in 2007–08. He currently plays with IPL team Delhi Daredevils.

He will also be an international franchise player for the 2013 Caribbean Premier League alongside Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist

Personal life

Taylor is of Samoan descent, his mother being from Samoa and his father from New Zealand. Taylor was a hockey player before shifting his focus to cricket. Taylor and New Zealand women's cricketer Victoria Jayne Brown were married on 25 June 2011. They have a daughter named Mackenzie, who was born on 24 September 2011 and a son named Jonty who was born on 16 February 2014.

International career

He made his debut for the New Zealand team in international cricket on 1 March 2006, in a one-day match against the West Indies. He became the second male player of Samoan heritage to play for New Zealand after Murphy Su'a. Taylor's full name is Luteru Ross Poutoa Lote Taylor; however, some sources have inaccurately recorded his name as Ross Luteru Taylor. This is because Taylor grew up answering to both Luteru and Ross when playing cricket, and did not realise he needed to write down his full name for the official New Zealand Cricket records when he was asked to fill in a questionnaire at a first-class match early in his career.

Taylor captained New Zealand for the first time in an ODI against Australia in Napier on 3 March 2010, when Daniel Vettori dropped out of the side less than 30 minutes before the start with a neck ache. Taylor top-scored with 70 and New Zealand won by two wickets with four balls to spare. Taylor was also awarded the Man of the Match and donated the $NZ 500 prize to the Lansdowne Cricket Club in Masterton.

Taylor has been a dominant batsman on the domestic scene for the past couple of seasons. He is a clean striker of the ball, and a useful off-break bowler. Taylor scored his maiden one day century in front of a delighted crowd in Napier, playing against Sri Lanka on 28 December 2006. Unluckily for him, New Zealand were comprehensively beaten in that game, his innings aside. He also suffered dehydration and required a short hospital trip during the second innings. Taylor hit 84 against Australia in their opening game in the 2007 Commonwealth Bank series. He has also established one of the most potent no.3-no.4 top order partnership with Kane Williamson since the latter made his debut. However, they were also involved in 12 run outs across all forms of international cricket as of 26 January, 2015 when they are both on the crease.

Taylor has also played English cricket for Norwich and Coltishall Wanderers in Norfolk. He was their key player and he was consistent in scoring runs.

Domestic career

Taylor was picked up by the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 2008 Indian Premier League auction. An innings of note was a destructive 81* off 33 balls against the Kolkata Knight Riders in 2009.

In the 2011 auction, Taylor was sold to the Rajasthan Royals. Mainly used as a finisher for the Royals, he was underused yet effective.

He departed the Rajasthan Royals to join the Delhi Daredevils for the season of 2012.

He was traded from Delhi Daredevils where he played a season to Pune Warriors India for Ashish Nehra in 2013.

His domestic team in New Zealand is the Central Stags, in 2009/10 he played for the Victorian Bushrangers in the KFC Twenty20 Big Bash as one of two overseas players (the other being Dwayne Bravo from the West Indies). In the 2009-10 HRV Cup Final against the Auckland Aces, Taylor scored a match-winning 80 off 30 balls, and in a partnership with Kieran Noema-Barnett they scored 133 runs from 53 balls bowled. Taylor also hit Michael Bates for 27 in one over, including three consecutive sixes. In total Taylor hit eight sixes and five fours for the Stags. In 2010 he played for Durham in the Friends Provident T20 tournament, his most substantial contribution being a brutal 80 not out from only 33 balls including 3 fours and 9 sixes.

Achievements

Taylor's first ODI century came against Sri Lanka on 28 December 2006, scoring 128* off 133 balls. The innings included 12 fours and 6 sixes. Taylor scored his second century in his ODI career on 18 February 2007 against Australia. He scored 117, the 2nd highest score by a New Zealander against Australia.

He made his highest ODI score of 131* which came off 124 balls against Pakistan on 8 March 2011 at the ICC Cricket World Cup. His innings included seven (7) 6's and eight (8) 4's and contributed to New Zealand making 127 runs in the final 9 overs of the game for their highest total ever against Pakistan (302) in ODI cricket. It is from this match that Taylor earned his nickname 'The Pallekele Plunderer' after he blasted a staggering 55 runs from the last 13 deliveries he faced. With this century, Taylor became only the fourth batsman in history of the game that scored an ODI century in a birthday, after Vinod Kambli, Sachin Tendulkar, and Sanath Jayasuriya.

He scored his maiden Test century, a patient and restrained 120, in March 2008 at Hamilton in the first Test of the 2007–08 series against England and went on to be the leading run scorer for the series.

Aside from national duties for the New Zealand team, Taylor also plays for Delhi Daredevils in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and for his domestic team, the Central Districts Stags. Taylor scored a match winning innings of 81 from just 33 balls for Bangalore against Kolkata to seal an improbable victory for his team in 2009.

Known for his explosive style, combining flair and aggression with proper, elegant strokes, Taylor has been a match-winner in many of the RCB's wins. He has one of the highest strike-rates as an RCB batsman and known to be a 'finisher'. After RCB's win over Delhi Daredevils at Airtel Champions League Twenty20 2009, captain Anil Kumble said that Taylor was a "murderer" of spinners, referring to his explosive innings of 65. In 38 balls, Taylor had scored six 4s and four 6s, and was declared Man of the Match.

Ross Taylor scored what was then a Test match career-best of 154* against England at Old Trafford in May 2008, a brilliant innings including 5 sixes and 17 fours.

His third Test century, an aggressive and chancy innings of 151 runs off 204 balls, came against India at Napier in March 2009. His fourth Test century, in the next Test, was a serene 107 which delayed India's victory long enough to force a draw.

In a match against Australia at Hamilton in March 2010, Taylor made the fastest Test century ever by a New Zealander, bringing up his hundred off only 81 balls

Taylor scored centuries in all three tests in the 2013/14 series against the West Indies. In the first Test, Taylor made his first Test match double-century and highest test score of 217* in a composed and classy innings.

Taylor's 12th ODI century against Pakistan at Napier coincides with the 100th century for the Black Caps. Kane Williamson also scored his century before, making his the 99th century for the team.

International centuries

Main article: List of international cricket centuries by Ross Taylor

Awards

Test Awards

Man of the Match Awards

S No	Opponent	Venue	Date	Match Performance	Result
1	Sri Lanka	P. Sara Oval, Colombo	25–29 November 2012	1st innings: 142 (306 balls: 11×4); DNB, 1 catch 2nd innings: 74 (95 balls: 2×4); DNB	Won
2	West Indies	University Oval, Dunedin	3–7 December 2013	1st innings: 217* (319 balls: 23×4); DNB, 2 catches 2nd innings: DNB, 2 catches; 16* (61 balls: 2×4)	Draw
3	West Indies	Seddon Park, Hamilton	19–22 December 2013	1st innings: DNB; 131 (264 balls: 16×4, 2x6) 2nd innings: DNB, 1 catch; 2* (8 balls)	Won
4	Pakistan	Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai	17–21 November 2014	1st innings: 23 (71 balls: 3×4); DNB, 2 catches 2nd innings: 104 (133 balls: 12×4); DNB, 1 catch	Draw

ODI awards

ODI Man of the Match

S No	Opponent	Venue	Date	Match Performance	Result
1	Australia	Eden Park, Auckland	18 February 2007	DNB, 1 catch; 117 (127 balls: 16×4, 1x6)	Won
2	Kenya	Beausejour Stadium, Gros Islet, St Lucia	20 March 2007	85 (107 balls: 8×4, 1x6); DNB	Won
3	Bangladesh	Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chittagong	14 October 2008	103 (119 balls: 5×4, 4x6); DNB	Won
4	Bangladesh	University Oval, Dunedin	8 February 2010	DNB; 78 (52 balls: 6×4, 5x6)	Won
5	Australia	McLean Park, Napier	3 March 2010	DNB; 70 (71 balls: 6×4, 1x6)	Won
6	India	Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium, Dambulla	10 August 2010	95 (113 balls: 8×4, 1x6); DNB, 4 catches	Won
7	Pakistan	Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Kandy	8 March 2011	131* (124 balls: 8×4, 7x6); DNB, 1 catch	Won
8	India	Seddon Park, Hamilton	28 January 2014	DNB; 112* (127 balls: 15×4)	Won
9	India	Westpac Stadium, Wellington	31 January 2014	102 (106 balls: 10×4, 1x6); DNB, 1 catch	Won

External links

• Ross Taylor at ESPNcricinfo
• Ross Taylor at CricketArchive (subscription required)
• Ross Taylor at New Zealand Cricket Players Association
• Ross Taylor on Twitter
• RCB Player Profile: from Royal Challengers Bangalore