Sibley shaker England opener out for 22 on Test debut
Opener departs for 22 on England Test debut Burns survives despite edging catch behind
Not since the Melbourne Test two winters ago had England scored 400 in the first innings of a Test but an opening partnership of 52 between Rory Burns and the Test debutant Dominic Sibley gave England’s travelling supporters cause to hope that this north coast of New Zealand would live up to its name as the Bay of Plenty for batsmen.
Sibley, being new, was able to enact his game-plan of ignoring everything outside his off stump and scoring entirely on the leg side, until New Zealand realised the right line for him. In scoring 22 and putting on 52 for the first wicket with Burns, Sibley did not score a single run on the off side, only on the leg side between midwicket and fine leg. The second step in Sibley’s Test career will be his reaction to all the bowling being directed outside off stump, such as the outswinger which had him caught at slip, off-driving with the face of the bat turned leg side.
Sibley became the first England player since Chris Woakes in 2013 to hit a boundary off his first ball in Test cricket. It was right in his slot, as Sibley sets up to score through midwicket – like some of England’s finest batsmen have done, such as Kevin Pietersen and Paul Collingwood, here as assistant coach. But, dominant as their bottom hands were on the bat, they learned to score bucketloads of runs on the off side, too.
With those first runs on the board, Sibley did not have to fret about getting off the mark, and was content to block or leave the next 21 balls, before his second scoring shot was another clip to the midwicket boundary.
His third scoring shot was a flick to square leg for a single, and his fourth. After 45 balls he had scored only 10 runs but, no less impor
tantly, Sibley survived the first 20 overs when the Kookaburra moves around before, like a penitent con man, going straight. Meanwhile, Burns was busy at the other end.
Conditions could not have been more congenial for batting as the pitch had been shaved to light green, the sun shone and the wind had died – that prevailing wind, cold and strident in the days before the game, which had come across the Bay of Plenty. Swing was plentiful for Tim Southee and Colin de Grandhomme, but not for Trent Boult – and he did not make the most of what there was.
When Burns had made 10, he faintly edged a ball through to the wicketkeeper BJ Watling, who made a big appeal but Boult did not, and umpire Bruce Oxenford turned it down. Kane Williamson did not call for a review. Replays, however, showed that Burns had nicked it and had escaped – the luck which he had not had during the week of warm-ups.
It is rare for a contemporary Test captain to bat first after winning the toss in New Zealand, but Joe Root was happy to do so. The sunshine is forecast to dry this pitch out and make it crack before the end, so that the ball is predicted to go up and down, especially for the quicker bowlers.
Root, down to No4, enjoyed a relatively relaxed start to this series – no need to wear his pads for the opening ceremony – whereas in the Ashes he had usually been at the wicket before the 10th over of England’s innings.
Joe Denly, installed at No3, batted calmly – even though he did not get off the mark until his 21st ball with a four – through until lunch with Burns.