Black Caps veteran Ross Taylor's unbeaten 124 on the opening day of the second Test against Zimbabwe carried a more sentimental edge than others.
Taylor surpassed iconic New Zealand batsman Martin Crowe, his late mentor, to claim third position on the nation's all-time Test scoring list.
However he didn’t become aware of the achievement until he heard a smattering of claps from a small group of compatriots at one end of the ground, who turned out to be part of the team's media contingent.
"I knew I was close but I don’t really look at the scoreboard when I'm batting," said the 32-year-old.
"I heard some applause so I thought I'd better look up to see what I was at."
Crowe, widely considered the country's greatest ever Test batsman, worked closely with Taylor to develop his game until he fell to cancer in March of this year, the results of their work coming to its nadir during the 2013/14 home season against the West Indies and India.
"It was nice to beat Hogan [Crowe]," noted Taylor.
"When I first met him, in a mentor capacity, he said that he wanted me to at least beat his record.
"It was nice to knock off one of those goals that he set for me."
The Bulawayo pitch has predictably offered little for the bowlers thus far, even less than the benign track of the first Test in Harare.
"I think it's slower than the first test.
"It's going to be very hard to get 10 wickets, but hopefully we can get the ball to reverse a little bit tomorrow."
Newshub.
