Better get the fridge stocked up.

He said the same in the after match interview.

Got to mention how good it is to play such a respectful team like England with a class captain in Morgan.. great sportsmanship from both sides in this series

I think Thomas too busy defending Little Davey Warner's honour in the Saffa v Aussie thread to be reading this.

That was a brilliant match winning innings from Taylor on one leg. Martin Crowe would be proud.

You could see it in the way the players mingled as they walked off the field.

Brilliant win by NZ - I did say that England needed to post a really big score or they'd get chased down. They'll be kicking themselves for failing to get well beyond 350 - but it was a great fightback from NZ.

Sets things up nicely for the decider.

England NZ matches are always played in the true spirit of the game - great to see.

+1. And in the meantime Davey Dum-Dum is having to be held back in the stairwell. The Australians are a poison in the game.

Ross is going to have to skip the decider isn't he?

Woke up to the unexpected result - considering I got to bed when England were 140 odd for 1.

This has been a great series.

It has been class from both sides - played in a good spirit. Great advertisement for the game.

Deciding matches are always a great way to end a series.

Well done Rosco - Guptil and Munro owe the team a decent innings. Anyone else think that McCullum needs to be hired by NZC to get the BC's fielding back up to a standard?

Yes.. immediately

Heard he helped England a bit as well and they are much improved over all

Our fielding has really dropped since he left

Our bowling hasn't been the best it could be since Bond left, either.

Play hard, play fair, compete to win, then have a beer.

Yep true

Love me a bit of Ross. He really puts it all on the line for the team. Still increasing his reputation and moving up the list of greatest Kiwi batsmen.

He'd already be second to Crowe no?

I'm still blown away by that innings hours later.

To do that chasing 335, after coming in at 2/2, on one leg was phenomenal.

I was pretty critical of him when he was struggling a few years ago and thought he was shot mentally but I'm pretty glad to be scarfing down the humble pie.

That big 200 against Aus and Martin Crowe mentoring him really seemed to turn it around. Gutsy player.

Doesn't Fleming have the most runs ever by a Black Cap?

Heard on the radio Taylor is averaging 89 at home this season. That's pretty good.

He's seems to get better and better.
That was the type of innings that only happens in dreams.

I think his eye issue was a lot worse than he let on. The fact that he was having trouble picking swing and spin - and yet he was still averaging high 40's......he is probably a gutsiest player NZ have ever produced.

I think he will be one of those players that when he retires people will realise what NZC have lost.

This.

Yeah but thats due the number of matches he played.

Taylor has a far superior average in both forms of the game (haven't looked at t20 because who cares) and a shitload more centuries as well. Fleming always struggled to kick on after reaching 50.

Edit: Add the fact that he's done that batting virtually his entire career at four which gives him less time in limited over cricket.

Yeah true on both counts.

He's a high quality bat - and his batting is very easy on the eye.

ODIs:
http://stats.espncricinfo.com/newzealan ... ;type=team

Test matches:
http://stats.espncricinfo.com/newzealan ... ;type=team

Be careful JCG, that you know all the facts... Cumming said that in respect of Martin Crowe’s sometimes nickname for Taylor. Something about saying it to Taylor when he was battling form, when he was was in the zone he made things look so easy.

Well, without wanting to go all SJW etc, that still sounds a wee bit racist on Crowe's part. I'm sure it didn't bother Taylor and it's not my place to be offended for someone else though, so fair enough.

I'd imagine lots of poms went to bed when 400 was looking distinctly possible for them, then woke up to this.

Yep. Probably a dozen of them at least.

Senarky.

Around midnight UK was when they were peaking, the collapse was just after midnight. Even then it took an heroic effort to chase their total.

You're totally, like, harshing the vibe, dude.

Yeah they probably all just stayed up all night on a weekday.

Crowe was his mentor, you berk. They were extremely close.

The unsung hero of all of this is the eye surgeon. His form has certainly improved since his eye surgery.

Would be interesting to see how guys like Crowe would have done with these newer bigger bats

Did anyone see the tweet from Stephen Fleming?

I wouldn't mind seeing him brought into our setup at some stage. He was a great captain. I always remember the two points field to Damien Martyn.

I guess he's minting it in the IPL though.

Isn't he the premier IPL coach or something? He'd be making a packet.

Er...yeah, I know - that's why I said I'm sure it didn't bother Taylor.

Having said that, and with the qualifier that I doubt many would find it offensive or a big deal, there's a bit of a difference between Crowe saying to Taylor and Cumming saying it on national broadcast. You can get away with some jokes with your mates or partner that you might not get away with to your boss or a stranger. So the fact that Crowe used to say something to Taylor in private doesn't necesarily excuse Cumming saying it to the wider public.

It's gotten lost a bit among Taylor's great innings, but Moeen Ali dropping a sitter off Latham was a huge moment. Would have been 100/4 at that point and probably game over. If England go on to lose the series, they'll look back on that moment (and the collapse, obviously).

Naa Morgan said he would of put NZ in as well, seems the deck was better than either team thought.