NZ vs BAN: Ross Taylor bids adieu to Test cricket with a wicket off his last ball

New Zealand have leveled the two-match Test series against Bangladesh with a thumping win by an innings and 117 runs. This was also the last Test match of veteran Ross Taylor‘s career who had announced that he will hang his boots after the home summer before the series. He will still play his last few matches in ODIs and T20Is but this game turned out to be his last in the whites.

And it was a memorable ending for Taylor as he picked up a wicket off the last ball of his career. The man who tormented the bowling attacks at will during his illustrious career was given the red cherry in his hands when Bangladesh’s last wicket was yet to fall. It was only the eighth time in his 112-Test long career that Taylor was bowling and he struck off the third ball of the over itself.

Ebadot Hossain blocked the first two deliveries but couldn’t stop himself from slogging the third one. The ball could only reach the mid-wicket fielder where the Kiwi skipper Tom Latham was fielding who grabbed a good catch. It was a kind of fairy-tale ending as the whole team rallied around Ross Taylor to celebrate the victory and a great Test career. Even the crowd was on its feet to applaud the veteran cricketer for one final time in Test cricket.

Here’s the video:

A perfect game for New Zealand

Meanwhile, New Zealand batted only once in this Test match. After losing the toss, Latham led from the front smashing 252 runs while Devon Conway also scored a hundred. Ross Taylor, in what turned out to be his final innings with the bat, mustered 28 runs as the hosts declared on a mammoth 521/6 in the first innings. Bangladesh crumbled for just 126 runs in just over 40 overs in response thanks to Trent Boult’s stunning five-fer.

New Zealand enforced a follow-on on the third morning and by the time the day ended, they had leveled the series. Liton Das was the only saving grace for Bangladesh as he smashed his second century but that didn’t save the visitors from an innings loss. Taylor was supposed to be the apple of every eye and it turned out to be the same way with him picking a wicket off his last ball.