Former New Zealand all-rounder Bruce Taylor, who still is the only cricketer to hit a century and take a five-for on a Test debut, passed away on Saturday, 6th February. Aged 77, Bruce breathed his last in his home town of Timaru, New Zealand.
Taylor suffered from “ill health" and "had a leg amputated in March 2016 to fight gangrene".
He achieved the rare feat of scoring the century and picking a five-for while making his debut against Australia at the Eden Gardens in 1965. Coming to bat at number eight, without even a single hundred at the First-Class level, Taylor added 163 for the eighth wicket with Bert Sutcliffe. Sutcliffe scored an unbeaten 151 while Taylor got 105 of 158.
While bowling, Taylor had the figures of 5/86 in his 24 overs. In total, Taylor played 30 Tests and scored 898 runs at an average of 20.40 with two fifties and two hundred. He also took 111 wickets at an average of 26.20
Apart from being a cricketer, Taylor also worked as a selector for New Zealand and picked the 1992 World Cup team, which did brilliantly well before being knocked out by the eventual winners Pakistan in the semi-finals.
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