Taylor exits with bitter-sweet memories

Brendan Taylor's made his 'last' appearance for Zimbabwe a memorable one with a classy century.

It was an emotional evening for Brendan Taylor, who was playing his last match for Zimbabwe for at least three more years.

He scored a wonderfully paced 138, although that joy was soon wiped out by the disappointment of defeat. It was Taylor’s second-highest career score and close to the best, he grudgingly admitted, that he had batted in an ODI.

“If you’re going to get a hundred and not win, then it doesn’t feel so sweet,” he said. “But a hundred in a World Cup is always pretty special. In terms of their bowling attack and what they provide, they made it very difficult.

“So to get through the difficult periods and push on and get a hundred, that was a great feeling. It’s definitely up there, but unfortunately it’s still another losing cause.”

Dropped catches proved costly

Dropping Suresh Raina on 47 greatly influenced the outcome, Taylor felt. “We’ve dropped far too many catches, probably double more than the second most drops from any other team. I thought obviously that Suresh Raina drop was crucial. Yes, they can bat pretty deep with Jadeja and Ashwin, but that could have been a little bit more pressure on MS, and who knows what can happen,” he said.

Taylor finished the World Cup with 433 runs — second only to Kumar Sangakkara. He will, unfortunately, be unable to build on it. There were mixed feelings within, he admitted.

“There’s definitely a sense of sadness. There’s a sense of disappointment in the way we’ve gone about this tournament, sad in a way that I’m leaving my team-mates, I’m leaving my home country for a number of years. It’s always going to be difficult to comprehend that. But I guess life goes on.

“You’re posed with difficult challenges and choices, but it’s a positive one that I’ve taken, and I’m looking forward to it. It’s going to be agood ride, and hopefully I can have some fairly decent success over there (Notts) and try and make myself a better cricketer for it.”

Several Indian fielders ran up to Taylor on his dismissal to wish him well and Taylor appreciated their gesture.

“It was nice from some of the Indian guys,” he said. “Shikhar, Virat and Suresh came up to me. That really was quite touching for me. They didn’t have to do that. They’re very established players.”