Mark Taylor is one of the most accomplished batters in Australian cricket in the 1980s and the 1990s. He played a crucial role in Australia becoming the most dominant team in world cricket. Mark Taylor played 104 Test Matches for Australia. He scored 7525 runs at an average of 43.50. He made 19 centuries in Test Cricket along with 2 double hundreds and a triple century. He also played 113 ODIs for Australia in which he made 3514 runs with only 1 hundred in ODI Cricket.
Let’s look at the Top 5 Best Innings of Mark Taylor in Test Cricket
1) 334* vs Pakistan (1998)
The highest score in the career of Mark Taylor was 334 not out that he made against Pakistan in 1998. Australia were batting first and Mark Taylor was opening the batting. He batted for 174 overs in which he played for 564 balls. He hit 32 fours and 1 six meaning 134 runs in boundaries. They means he ran for 200 of his runs and still had a strike rate of close to 60. This was his greatest innings and Pakistan have been the opponents for a number of triple hundreds.
2) 219 vs England (1989)
This was in the middle stages of his international career. He absolutely decimated England In this innings. He was batting first and he took 461 balls to hit 219 runs. He hit 23 fours meaning 92 runs in boundaries. He ran for 127 of his runs in this incredible knock. He had a strike rate of 47.51. Due to his double hundred, Australia won this match by an innings and 180 runs. Mark Taylor was proving to be one of the best in the world.
3) 170 vs South Africa (1993)
This was one of his best Hundreds in Test Cricket. This came against a very strong South Africa bowling attack. Mark Taylor was batting at the top like always. Australia were batting first and he made a brilliant 170 runs from 349 Balls. It has been clear from his innings that he likes taking his time to build a test innings. He smashed 12 fours meaning only 48 runs in boundaries. He ran for 122 of hoe 170 runs and had a strike rate of 49. He was showing that he can score but against any opposition.
4) 164 vs Sri Lanka (1989)
This is the fourth different opposition that he has scored a big hundred in excess of 150 against. The Sri Lankan team was a good one. He played this knock in the Third innings of the test match. He batted for 334 balls in this innings and saved the test match for Australia. He hit 17 fours and 2 sixes in this innings meaning 80 runs in boundaries. He had a strike rate of 49.10 in this knock. He loved batting at the top of the order.
5) 144 vs West Indies (1991)
This was also in the Third innings of this test match. This was a one man show as no other batter could cross 35 in this innings. Mark Taylor played this level of innings against the likes of Courtney Walsh, Curtly Ambrose and Malcolm Marshall who are among the greatest fast bowlers of all time. He played for 281 balls in this mind blowing innings and he hit 12 fours meaning 48 runs in boundaries. He was striking at 51. It was only due to this innings that Australia won this match by 157 runs.
Also Read: Greatest Australian Cricketers of all time
