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It was a fitting finale for New Zealand's modern-day great Ross Taylor as he brought down curtains on an illustrious career spanning almost 16 years. He was given a fitting send-off by his teammates and opponent Bangladesh as he bowed out on high. The 37-year-old made his emotions felt when he spoke after the match and said it was nice to pick a wicket in his final Test match.
"It's great to finish off your career with a win and a wicket, I wanted to finish off with a win and the guys did it. Bangladesh put us under a lot of pressure a number of times, it's only fair that we share the series," an emotional Taylor said in post-match.
Playing in his 112th match, Taylor surpassed former New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming's tally of 111 appearances for the Blackcaps. The 37-year-old on a given day had the ability to win a match single-handedly as has been the case. In his Test career, he smashed 19 hundreds and 35 fifties at an average of 44.66. His best score of 290 came against Australia in Perth in November 2015. He scored three double tons in 196 innings.
"The series was great – I was wondering if we need to come back tomorrow, but the boys were fantastic. It became a bit funky towards the end, I chunked it up and Tom (Latham) said it was the most precious thing I did over the whole game," the retiring Taylor quoted after scalping the final wicket to win the match.
Not renowned for bowling, he took the wicket of Ebadot Hossain to record the win in Christchurch. The Indian duo of Harbhajan Singh and S Sreesanth remains his only other victims.
"I have thoroughly enjoyed representing my country, have played a lot here (in Christchurch), spent a lot of time and it's a great way to finish," he added.
The right-handed batter will continue to play in the limited-overs format until March, as he will bow out of the ODI and T20I format after the series against Australia and the Netherlands. He was given 'Guard of Honour' by Bangladesh players, standing Umpires and a standing ovation by the crowd when he came out to bat on Day 2 of the Christchurch Test.
