ICC Champions Trophy: The day two wrap

The points that matter

- Australia and New Zealand take a point each from the Edgbaston washout. In a condensed tournament, that makes every game a must-win now in the hope of making the semi-finals.

- Australia's vaunted express bowling line-up was carted early – but fought back admirably to restrict, and ultimately bowl out, New Zealand.

- Both sides will have batting worries: the Black Caps collapsed to the tune of 7-37 in six overs, while Australia lost three top-order wickets in less than nine overs.

- South Africa and Sri Lanka face off tonight (7.30pm AEST) with the AB de Villiers-led Proteas heavily favoured.

Tweet of the day

We know it's one of ours, but seriously, what's doing with Adam Zampa's new hairstyle?

Snap of the day

It might look like Corey Anderson is just having a little relax on the Edgbaston Turf. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Image Id: 49F3655239CF4B00A9DE46D1B016AAAB Image Caption: Caption: Anderson floored by Pat Cummins' searing bouncer // Getty

Stat of the day

Josh Hazlewood may have taken some stick early, which left the Australian and his captain a little grumpy, but he still had an outstanding match and put his name in the record books. Hazlewood struck back brilliantly in his later spell to destroy New Zealand's middle and lower order. He took three wickets in four balls, narrowly missing the hat-trick, and finished with 6-52. It was the second-best bowling return in the history of the Champions Trophy, behind only Sri Lanka quick Farveez Maharoof's 6-14 against the West Indies in Mumbai in 2006. It also entered the upper echelon on Australian one-day cricket history, the ninth best return by an Aussie in ODIs – a list headed by Glenn McGrath's 7-15 against Namibia in the 2003 World Cup.

Player of the day

Kane Williamson. Could the man ooze any more class? It doesn't matter what format, his assured stroke-place at the crease is straight out of the purists' textbook. The right-hander's crisp drives are a thing of beauty to watch. His century at Edgbaston was his ninth career ODI ton, and his first against Australia. But Williamson also has the ability to press the accelerator, although you hardly notice given there's little in the way of a discernible change in style of strokeplay - his second fifty came from just 34 balls. Maybe he's learned a few things from David Warner during their time together at Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League.

Old friends turned enemies

Nine years ago, wicketkeeper Luke Ronchi clattered a 22-ball ODI fifty in one of his seven matches for Australia. Across the Tasman these days, facing his old teammates seems to bring out the best in him, and he matched Australia's aggression with plenty of his own to blaze a rapid half-century in an entertaining start to the match.

The selection drama

All the talk before the tournament had centred around two key issues for Australia: would they play the 'Big Four' quicks, and who would open with David Warner. The first appeared settled when Aaron Finch slammed a century against Sri Lanka in the first warm-up match. The second was put to rest on match eve when skipper Steve Smith said all four of the quicks George Bailey termed 'nasty fasties' would not play together here.

Sot it was somewhat of a surprise to see Chris Lynn's name not on the team sheet when the captain's exchanged notes at the toss. Allrounder Moises Henriques had been slotted in at No.4 ahead of the hard-hitting Queenslander on a pitch that was playing as straight and true as a batsman could wish for.

Quick Single: Smith explain Henriques nod over Lynn

Henriques delivered five overs and kept it reasonably tight, conceding 25 runs, but would have wanted to do more with the bat in hand. He did set a new ODI career best, but given the mark he had to pass was just 13 from nine previous ODIs, it was the least he would have expected. 

(Another) Stat of the day

Moises Henriques' selection ahead of Chris Lynn seemed at first glance to be a surprise, but a closer look at his List A stats may provide some answers: Henriques has averaged 69, 63 and 54 respectively in the past three editions of the Matador BBQs One-Day Cup, including a match-winning 85 in the 2016 final, while last summer he was the fifth-highest run-scorer in the Sheffield Shield (averaging 64) and the ninth-highest in the KFC Big Bash League. He also averaged 46 in the recent Indian Premier League.

The key take-away

New Zealand have never beaten Australia at the Champions Trophy – and they still haven't – but would have fancied themselves with three batsmen back in the sheds and the opposition 25 runs behind the DLS par score. But, the points were shared and there's no breathing space for either side in their quest to make the semi-finals.

What's up next?

The World's No.1 ODI side South Africa take on Sri Lanka at The Oval at The Oval in South London, from 10.30am local time (7.30pm AEST) today (Saturday). 

Next for Australia is Bangladesh on Monday (7.30pm AEST) at The Oval, while New Zealand and England meet in Cardiff on Tuesday (10.30pm AEST).

Champions Trophy 2017 Guide

AUSTRALIA SQUAD: Steve Smith (c), David Warner, Pat Cummins, Aaron Finch, John Hastings, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Moises Henriques, Chris Lynn, Glenn Maxwell, James Pattinson, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, Adam Zampa

Other squads: Every Champions Trophy squad

Schedule

1 June – England beat Bangladesh by eight wickets

2 June – Australia v New Zealand- match abandoned

3 June – Sri Lanka v South Africa, The Oval (D)

4 June – India v Pakistan, Edgbaston (D)

5 June – Australia v Bangladesh, The Oval (D/N)

6 June – England v New Zealand, Cardiff (D)

7 June – Pakistan v South Africa, Edgbaston (D/N)

8 June – India v Sri Lanka, The Oval (D)

9 June – New Zealand v Bangladesh, Cardiff (D)

10 June – England v Australia, Edgbaston (D)

11 June – India v South Africa, The Oval (D)

12 June – Sri Lanka v Pakistan, Cardiff (D)

14 June – First semi-final (A1 v B2), Cardiff (D)

15 June – Second semi-final (A2 v B1), Edgbaston (D)

18 June – Final, The Oval (D)

19 June – Reserve day (D)