Kane, Hazlewood shine as NZ, Australia share spoils
birmingham — Rain saw the Champions Trophy one-day international between Australia and New Zealand at Edgbaston on Friday end in a no result.
Australia, set a revised target of 235 to win in 33 overs, were 53 for three off nine overs when the last of several rain interruptions took the players off the field.
A minimum of 20 overs had to be bowled in Australia’s innings for a result to be possible but so severe was the final downpour that the umpires decided there was no possibility of getting to that mark with- in the scheduled playing hours.
Both teams received a point apiece for the no result from what was their opening match of the 2017 Champions Trophy, a tour- nament featuring the world’s top eight one-day international teams.
The main beneficiaries were Group A rivals and tournament hosts England, who launched this year’s edition with an eight-wicket win over Bangladesh at the Oval on Thursday.
New Zealand, who saw their innings reduced to 46 overs after a rain break of nearly two hours, made 291 all out in 45 overs.
They lost their last seven wickets for 37 runs after captain Kane Williamson’s excellent innings of exactly 100.
Australia fast bowler Josh Hazlewood took an ODI best six for 52.
Williamson made 100 off 97 balls with the help of eight fours and three sixes, while Luke Ronchi scored a quick 65 off 43 balls up the order to set the base in a raincurtailed affair between the TransTasman rivals at Edgbaston.
Josh Hazlewood ran through New Zealand’s lower-order and returned with impressive figures of six for 52 from his nine overs.
The match was reduced to 46-over-a-side affair after a spell of rain halted the proceedings for a brief period.
New Zealand made a good start after opting to bat with Martin Guptill (26) and Ronchi looked settled from the word go.
The duo added 40 runs in 34 balls before Guptill found a leading edge while trying to flick Hazlewood and Glenn Maxwell took a simple catch at point.
The fall of wicket, however, did not have any effect on Ronchi’s approach as he went about his normal attacking style of play.
Ronchi was particularly severe on Pat Cummins (1-67) as he continued his onslaught. —