New Zealand vs England: Day one of first Test in a nutshell
Written by News on 21/11/2019
Jofra Archer speeding around on a Segway, Dom Sibley’s fast start and Ben Stokes stirs England to life. Here’s the pick of day one at Mount Maunganui…
The Report
Ben Stokes struck an unbeaten 67 off 114 balls to wrestle the initiative away from a disciplined New Zealand attack on day one of the first Test, at Bay Oval, writes Oli Burley.
Stokes compiled the third half-century of England’s total of 241-4 after opener Rory Burns (52 off 138) and Joe Denly (74 off 181) dug deep to chisel out a platform.
Moment of the Day
The sight of Jofra Archer zipping around on a Segway before play got underway takes some beating, even if Joe Root perhaps didn’t quite see the funny side. You can bet it would have made a few headlines had England’s ‘X-factor’ bowler taken an x-rated tumble before the series had even begun.
Dom Sibley also made a fast start to the day, getting off the mark in Test cricket with a boundary from his first delivery faced. While it’s true he couldn’t have wished for a more inviting ball than the full delivery served up by Trent Boult, the manner in which he dispatched it through midwicket suggested this was a debutant far from overawed.
Stats of the Day
Talking Point
Did either side do themselves justice? As tight as New Zealand bowled for the majority of the day, their early tactics against debutant Dom Sibley caused some raised eyebrows. Ian Smith in the commentary box, for one, couldn’t quite understand why it took the hosts so long to challenge Sibley to drive repeatedly through the off-side. He found an ally in Mike Atherton, who said: “I was slightly surprised at how long it took New Zealand to adjust their lines into the areas where you expect to bowl at Sibley.” Factor in the lives given to Burns and Stokes and New Zealand’s day could have turned out much better.
England were certainly very patient and very disciplined in their batting, no doubt, but could they have rotated the strike more and perhaps even taken the game to the Kiwis? David Lloyd looked a disconsolate figure during tea, when he opined that England were in danger of being becalmed, such was their tiptoe approach. But the stand between Stokes and Denly, plus the positive contribution of Pope, means England can be optimistic going into day two.
Tweets of the Day
What they said
England’s Rory Burns: “I found it quite tough after lunch – a bit of lack of pace and that new ball wore off as well, so there’s a little bit to work on and I’m disappointed not to cash in.
“In terms of seam movement, it’s actually quite slow and hard to score on. I think it’ll slow up over the five days, that’s how it felt. For periods there it was quite tough and to fight through and come out the way we have, I think it was a good day’s cricket.”
James Franklin: “Stokes has started this winter like he left last summer in England, he played beautifully. England will be hoping he can make a big hundred tomorrow because they’ve had some good starts but they really need someone to kick on and get a big hundred. Hopefully from England’s point of view that’s Ben Stokes.”
David Lloyd on Root: “For a chap with 7000 Test match runs, to start moving around and tinkering, it’s all well and good but not too much. He needs time at the crease, which every batsman would need, to get back into rhythm. He looked uncomfortable today and chatting to Mark Ramprakash, he said that’s the most uncomfortable he’s seen him.”
Watch day two of the first Test between New Zealand and England live on Sky Sports Cricket from 9.30pm on Thursday.
(c) Sky Sports 2019: New Zealand vs England: Day one of first Test in a nutshell
