Ross Taylor becomes New Zealand’s leading ODI runscorer

Right-hander Ross Taylor surpassed Stephen Fleming’s tally of 8,007 runs during the course of his innings of 64 against Bangladesh in the third ODI at Dunedin on 20 February. He also passed 8,000 runs during the innings, becoming the fourth-fastest batsman to the mark, behind Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, and Sourav Ganguly.

8️⃣0️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ and counting! Congratulations to @RossLTaylor, only the second New Zealand batsman to score 8k ODI runs. Stephen Fleming (8037) is their leading run-scorer in the format. Will Rossco pass him today?#NZvBAN LIVE 👇https://t.co/crmF5ypXxh pic.twitter.com/I5qLeuQNu3

— ICC (@ICC) February 20, 2019

Long established as one of his country’s greatest ever batsmen, this is simply another accolade to add to the list for Taylor, who has more ODI centuries and half-centuries than any of his countrymen, as well as boasting the highest average of any New Zealand batsman with more than 500 ODI runs. However, one milestone still eludes him. With Fleming having turned out not just for New Zealand, but for the ICC World XI during his ODI career, his overall ODI runs tally sits at 8,037, an agonising 11 runs clear of where Taylor ended his innings. With the fixtures against Bangladesh set to be New Zealand's last international engagements before this summer's Men's Cricket World Cup, it might be that Taylor has to wait until gracing the grandest stage of all to finally break Fleming's record.