• Taylor century secures Sri Lanka whitewash

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    New Zealand’s Ross Taylor showed his class once more with a sensational century in the third and final ODI against Sri Lanka to get the nod for today’s Play of the Day, writes ANITHA MADIKIZELA.

    Having been inserted to bat first by the visitors, Taylor got to the crease rather early after the Black Caps lost both opening batsmen within the first five overs of the match. But his partnership with captain Kane Williamson for the third wicket laid the foundations for New Zealand’s veteran top-order batsman to go on to score a big century.

    After initially reaching his sixth consecutive ODI half-century off 61 deliveries, Taylor went on to secure the century in 112 balls before succumbing to Lasith Malinga with his score on 137 off 131 balls – including nine fours and four well-struck sixes.

    Before his dismissal, Taylor was involved in a mammoth 154-run partnership with fellow centurion Henry Nicholls (124 runs off 80 balls, 12×4, 3×6) – the record highest fourth-wicket stand for New Zealand against Sri Lanka – after becoming the first Black Cap in history to reach 20 centuries in any format.

    READ MORE: Kane lauds ‘fantastic’ Taylor, ‘brilliant’ Nicholls

    The twin centuries from Taylor and Nicholls helped New Zealand to a convincing 115-run victory in the last of the three-match series against Sri Lanka to bag a 3-0 whitewash.

    The teams meet for the last time on this tour in a one-off T20I encounter in Auckland on Friday when the Sri Lankans will hope to end on a high note after a chastening tour of New Zealand.

    New Zealand 364-4 (LRPL Taylor 137, HM Nicholls 124, KS Williamson 55; SL Malinga 3-93)
    Sri Lanka 249  (Thisara Perera 80, N Dickwella 46, Kusal Perera 43; LH Ferguson 4-40, IS Sodhi 3-40)
    New Zealand won by 115 runs

    Scorecard

    Photo: ICC/Twitter

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    Anitha Madikizela