Taylor, Williamson power NZ to 303
The Kane Williamson-Ross Taylor alliance has been among the biggest contributors - if not the biggest - to New Zealand's totals for a while now, and pair continued to impose their collective wrath on the opposition. New Zealand, playing as Aotearoa in celebration of Maori week, benefited from their partnership and a late burst from Grant Elliott, whose 32-ball 43 helped the visitors ransack 115 runs in the last 10 overs and push the score past 300.
Williamson and Taylor's 137-run partnership in 27.4 overs for the third wicket was a demonstration of measured run-gathering sprinkled with cleverly-timed bursts after New Zealand, having been sent in, lost two early wickets. Williamson, the captain, began slowly, but he got his game in order to rack up his fifth consecutive fifty-plus score. His 102-ball effort ended in the 37th over when he inside-edged Tinashe Panyangara onto the stumps three runs short of his eighth hundred.
Taylor, though, hung on, and notched up his 15th ODI hundred - his fourth this year - in an innings of two parts. He began by methodically working out the Zimbabwe bowlers, barely giving into his indulgences, before unleashing some muscular fury in the end. When Taylor reached his half-century in 89 balls, he had only two fours. By the time New Zealand's innings ended, he had smashed five fours and three sixes.
Panyangara was Zimbabwe's best bowler on the day but his figures of 2 for 50 could have been a lot better had he received greater support from his fielders.
At the toss, Elton Chigumbura did not seem in any doubt over the advantages of leveraging the freshness of the morning surface. His opposite number, Williamson, was in agreement, noting that the first 10 overs would be the hardest to deal with but once that period was negotiated, batting would be much easier.
Both captains were proved right. Zimbabwe's seamers Panyangara and Chris Mpofu enjoyed the movement they were deriving out of the pitch. Tom Latham and Martin Guptill initially appeared to threaten Zimbabwe's rhythm by collecting fours off their new-ball bowlers.
Panyangara, however, melded skill and deception to outsmart Guptill in the fifth over. After a couple of deliveries, conforming to his natural angle veered in towards Guptill, Panyangara got one to hold its line on off stump. The next ball, though, landed outside off stump and stayed the course. Guptill was late to bail out of his pre-determined poke which was eventually snaffled by Hamilton Masakadza at first slip.
Latham's dismissal exactly five overs later was a result of Chamu Chibhabha's persistence. He angled each of his first four deliveries across the left-hand batsman off a good length. The fifth one was shorter and Latham swiveled into a pull, but the slowness of the surface colluding with the bowler's lack of pace, he bottom-edged the ball onto his stumps.
It was then that Zimbabwe ran into Williamson and Taylor, both of whom kept the scoring rate steady without resorting to the extremes of clamping down or mindless assault. While Taylor was content with perfecting his paddle sweeps, Williamson found his release through inside-out shovel-scoops over extra cover, and through wristy pulls. Their handling of Graeme Crèmer - they exploited the slowness of the pitch by quickly moving back to shorten the length - was particularly impressive. The Williamson-Taylor combination now has an aggregate of 2193 runs in 38 innings at an average of 60.91.
Williamson and Taylor's 137-run partnership in 27.4 overs for the third wicket was a demonstration of measured run-gathering sprinkled with cleverly-timed bursts after New Zealand, having been sent in, lost two early wickets. Williamson, the captain, began slowly, but he got his game in order to rack up his fifth consecutive fifty-plus score. His 102-ball effort ended in the 37th over when he inside-edged Tinashe Panyangara onto the stumps three runs short of his eighth hundred.
Panyangara was Zimbabwe's best bowler on the day but his figures of 2 for 50 could have been a lot better had he received greater support from his fielders.
At the toss, Elton Chigumbura did not seem in any doubt over the advantages of leveraging the freshness of the morning surface. His opposite number, Williamson, was in agreement, noting that the first 10 overs would be the hardest to deal with but once that period was negotiated, batting would be much easier.
Both captains were proved right. Zimbabwe's seamers Panyangara and Chris Mpofu enjoyed the movement they were deriving out of the pitch. Tom Latham and Martin Guptill initially appeared to threaten Zimbabwe's rhythm by collecting fours off their new-ball bowlers.
Panyangara, however, melded skill and deception to outsmart Guptill in the fifth over. After a couple of deliveries, conforming to his natural angle veered in towards Guptill, Panyangara got one to hold its line on off stump. The next ball, though, landed outside off stump and stayed the course. Guptill was late to bail out of his pre-determined poke which was eventually snaffled by Hamilton Masakadza at first slip.
Latham's dismissal exactly five overs later was a result of Chamu Chibhabha's persistence. He angled each of his first four deliveries across the left-hand batsman off a good length. The fifth one was shorter and Latham swiveled into a pull, but the slowness of the surface colluding with the bowler's lack of pace, he bottom-edged the ball onto his stumps.
It was then that Zimbabwe ran into Williamson and Taylor, both of whom kept the scoring rate steady without resorting to the extremes of clamping down or mindless assault. While Taylor was content with perfecting his paddle sweeps, Williamson found his release through inside-out shovel-scoops over extra cover, and through wristy pulls. Their handling of Graeme Crèmer - they exploited the slowness of the pitch by quickly moving back to shorten the length - was particularly impressive. The Williamson-Taylor combination now has an aggregate of 2193 runs in 38 innings at an average of 60.91.
Zimbabwe's only decent chance of breaking the partnership came in the 22nd over when Sikandar Raza pulled off a brilliant save. Taylor drove towards cover and set off for a run. Had Raza, who gathered the ball and threw in one motion, found the stumps, Taylor would have been walking back.
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