Nervy Taylor delighted with ton

Ross Taylor was glad to return to form with 151 on the first day against India

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Ross Taylor overcame a bout of nerves to score his third Test century as New Zealand reached 351 for four at the end of the first day of the second Test against India.

The 25-year-old has made just one score over 50 in his last 16 innings and got off to a somewhat shaky start, being dropped on four by Yuvraj Singh, before he got into his stride.

Taylor was eventually dismissed for 151, just three runs shy of his highest score of 154 not out which came against England in Manchester last May.

“I haven’t had a significant score for a while now and was probably a little bit more nervous than I have been in the past,” he admitted.

“I am a nervous starter normally but today I was probably a bit more nervous. I was happy with the let-off and luckily I was able to make it pay.”

Having eventually got himself through the nervous 90s – “you would have thought it was my first hundred the way I was jumping around” – Taylor eventually holed out to Yuvraj trying to slog sweep Harbhajan Singh.

“I feel fairly happy with the day’s work,” he added.

“I’m a bit disappointed that we had a good partnership going and I played a reckless shot and got out. At the same time to get the team to where they are after being 23 for three is a pretty good effort.”

Taylor and Jesse Ryder’s record fourth-wicket stand of 271 certainly dug New Zealand out of a hole after they lost the early wickets of Tim McIntosh, Jamie How, who was in for the injured Daniel Flynn, and Martin Guptill.

But Taylor said he had been more focused on his own innings rather than the predicament the Black Caps once again found themselves in after another horror start.

“If you start worrying about that you are not concentrating on the right things. It worked out,” he said.

Virender Sehwag admitted there was little help for his bowlers, including Zaheer Khan

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Taylor was also full of praise for Ryder, who scored his second successive Test hundred and was 137 not out at the close.

“I’ve got to praise Jesse for his maturity and for keeping me going. Hopefully I did the same for him.

“Jesse was a big help throughout the whole innings. He was geeing me on a lot.”

Despite the good start, Taylor felt the team would need to add another 200 runs to be competitive against a strong India batting line-up.

“You don’t often get 350 on the first day. It’s something for the team to be proud of but it’s only halfway there,” he said.

“We need probably a minimum of 500-550 to be competitive. We know it’s a good wicket and that the Indian line-up is a very good side. Hopefully we can see off the new ball in the morning and build in the second and third sessions.”

Virender Sehwag, who took over the captaincy duties in the absence of the injured Mahendra Singh Dhoni, felt it had been a tough day for his bowlers, who were not helped by several dropped catches.

“We knew it was a good track and that someone would get a hundred here. If we’d taken that Taylor catch it would have been 25 for four,” he said.

“We missed our chances and that’s why he went on to score runs.”

He added: “It’s tough for the bowlers. It’s not easy to bowl on one line or length because the ball is coming on to the bat and with the fast outfield the batsmen can play their shots and it goes through the gap.

“It’s difficult to set the field for someone who is playing shots. It’s a good track to bat on. There is nothing for the bowlers so hopefully we will do well during out batting time.”