Flem’s century best of top tons
Tremendous effort by Taylor just one of our best from some brilliant NZ batsmen . . .
Ross Taylor’s staggering innings against England on Wednesday wasn’t even finished before it was rated on social media as one of the great knocks by a New Zealander.
Taylor came in with New Zealand two for two and chasing 336. He struggled with a hip injury, a quad injury and cramp in the arm to complete a memorable 181 not out in leading the Black Caps to a five wicket win.
Thanks to Taylor, and some help from Ish Sodhi, Tom Latham, Kane Williamson and Colin de Grandhomme, the Black Caps can now take a series victory with a win in the final game in Christchurch. It was one of the great individual performances but is it the best ever?
Our criteria was to look at players who made match-winning, big scores, perhaps coming in with team in trouble in while chasing a decent score (which is more impressive than batting first).
We also took into account the occasion — was it a World Cup or a dead rubber in a one-day series? And there’s the opposition.
Lou Vincent’s 172 against Zimbabwe is a good score but look who he was playing against. Ditto Glenn Turner’s then record 171 against East Africa in the 1975 World Cup.
Here’s our top five (rated out of 20):
5: Martin Crowe 100 not out v Australia, Eden Park, 1992
New Zealand batted first but Crowe entered with his side 13-2 and batted the rest of the Black Caps’ innings. It was the opening game of the Cricket World Cup so plenty of pressure. Old foes Australia were defending World Cup champions and at full strength. Rating: 15/20
4: Martin Guptill 237no v West Indies, Wellington, 2015
Guptill opened the innings with New Zealand batting first. The game was over once his innings was. It’s the only double ton by a New Zealander, so worth extra points. A World Cup quarter-final on home turf was a pretty big occasion. The West Indies had conceded 307 to Ireland and 408 to South Africa earlier in the tournament, so not the most dangerous bowling attack. Rating: 15.5/20
3: Grant Elliott 84 not out v South Africa, Eden Park, 2015
New Zealand were chasing 298 from 43 overs. When Elliott came to the crease the Black Caps needed 170 from 26 overs with seven wickets in hand. Not the biggest ask on a small ground. But someone needed to step up if the Black Caps were to reach a World Cup final and he took control of the match, staying there to hit the winning runs. South Africa were one of the favourites going into the World Cup and had a very good record against New Zealand. Rating: 16/20
2: Ross Taylor 181 not out v England, Dunedin, 2018
Taylor came in with New Zealand two for two and chasing 336. It was fourth highest ODI score in a chase. It was must-win game in a five-match series against the thirdranked side in the world. Taylor could barely walk, let alone run, late in the innings. Rating: 16.5/20
1: Stephen Fleming 134 no v South Africa, Johannesburg, 2003
Fleming opened the batting with New Zealand chasing 307. A series of rain interruptions and a power failure made it a stop-start innings and the target was eventually reduced to 226 from 39 overs. It was a must-win game at the World Cup so the stakes were high. It was New Zealand’s first one-day win in nine attempts away against South Africa. The bowling attack included Allan Donald, Shaun Pollock and Makhaya Ntini. Nathan Astle was there at the end and said afterwards: “It's the best I've seen him play by a long, long way and it was one of the best hundreds I've ever seen. He hit it so sweetly, there were no risks. Everything was coming out of the middle.” In terms of the sheer class and quality of strokeplay, it was arguably the finest innings of the 2003 World Cup, said Cricinfo. Rating: 18/20
It's the best I've seen him play by a long, long way and it was one of the best hundreds I've ever seen. He hit it so sweetly, there were no risks. Everything was coming out of the middle. Nathan Astle on Stephen Fleming