Taylor’s got his ‘rhythm back’ for ODIs

New Zealand batsman Ross Taylor may not have had the best World Cup, and hasn't set the pitch ablaze against England yet, but hopes his half century against Leicestershire ahead of the ODI series will be a catalyst.

Taylor made 77 against the Foxes leading up to the ODI series that starts on Tuesday, and hopes that the half ton he made at Lord's and 48 at Headingley were also good indications of his improving form.

Taylor said: "I haven't scored as many as I would have liked and I have made a conscious effort to express myself and get back to the way I want to play – to hit the ball like when I first played for New Zealand.

"You can go two ways, you can try to graft it out a bit which I did at Lord's or try to play your shots as I did at Leeds and against Leicestershire. It was nice to get a few out of the middle and get some rhythm back."

The first ODI in Birmingham on Tuesday will be a test for the Kiwis, who reached the World Cup final, as a new-look England will be eager to show improvement after crashing out in the group stages.

The former skipper continued: "You've got to respect the opposition and after the way they performed in the World Cup they'll want to put in a good performance.

"There are a lot of new faces we've not seen before. But hopefully we can start again, we have the confidence."