KEY POINTS:
It wasn't exactly the ending a panicked Ross Taylor envisaged when he scampered from 99 to his maiden one-day cricket century at McLean Park, Napier.
His unbeaten 128 on Thursday couldn't help New Zealand, who lost by seven wickets in the five-match one-day series opener to Sri Lanka after they had scored 285.
The promising batsman ended up in hospital attached to a saline drip and unable to celebrate his milestone.
Taylor, 22, learnt a valuable lesson in his third one-day innings - eat lots, drink plenty and try not to be so nervous.
"It was my own fault," Taylor said.
"I was quite nervous and didn't really eat or drink much the whole day."
By the time Jeetan Patel was ferrying out energy drinks the damage was irreversible - Taylor was cramping up and in desperate need of rehydration.
Slightly embarrassed, Taylor said yesterday the realisation he was in trouble struck at the worst possible time - as he was setting off for his hundredth run.
"When I was running I felt my calf go. The first thing I thought was, 'Imagine if it's popped and I get run out for 99'."
Fortunately, he made his ground and had the energy to acknowledge his home crowd before his next scoring shot - a huge six - saw him collapse by the wickets.
"It was very painful, a bit more than normal cramp but I didn't scream and I guess I can see the funny side of it now."
Taylor doubted he would find himself in the same predicament again, believing those pre-match "nerves and things are out of my system".
He was taken to hospital half an hour into Sri Lanka's chase for 286 and reckoned he "felt like gold" after 10 minutes.
"The drip worked wonders."
- NZPA
