Williamson, Taylor dominate Australia in opener

Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor's 99-run stand for the third wicket helped New Zealand start the Champions Trophy on a strong note, amassing an impressive 299, in a rain curtailed encounter against Australia, which saw both sides share the spoils at Edgbaston on Friday.

New Zealand was put in to bat first on a surface that aided batting and the openers, Martin Guptill and Luke Ronchi got them off to a solid 40-run start, before the former departed in the sixth over. Williamson refused to hand over the early initiative and alongside Ronchi laid a stable platform for a late onslaught. Ronchi had hit nine fours and three sixes when he departed in the 16th over. New Zealand, at that stage was 117 for two and had 30 overs to build a formidable total.

Taylor joined Williamson and they scored at 5.44 runs in the 18.4 overs that followed. Taylor finally fell in the 34th over for a 58-ball 46, just one run shy of posting the fourth consecutive ODI-century stand with Williamson. Williamson, on 74 at that stage, raced to record his first ODI hundred against Australia. He departed shortly after reaching the milestone, but had impressed with eight fours and three sixes. Australia struggled and lost three wickets in nine overs, before rain interrupted play 11 overs short of the required quota.