Cricket: Luke Ronchi's cracking debut

Luke Ronchi hit a sparkling 88 runs for NZ in his test debut at Headingley yesterday. Photo / Getty

Luke Ronchi has made an impact for New Zealand in coloured clothing and he transferred that to the test arena on debut against England yesterday.

The wicketkeeper batsman hit 88 off 70 balls in his maiden test innings to help New Zealand close to parity with England on the opening day of the second test at Headingley, going to stumps at 297 for eight after a rain-interrupted day one.

Ronchi, the country's 267th test player, was fearless in his application and uncompromising with bad balls. He came within 12 runs and 14 deliveries of the fastest century on debut and becoming the first New Zealander to make a century at Headingley in eight tests. Sure, his first ball edged over the slips for four, but most of the task was completed with minimal unnecessary risk.

Ronchi produced the innings of a hardened professional ready for the test stage after 83 first-class matches. The 34-year-old treasured the moment knowing, with BJ Watling as the incumbent wicketkeeper, this could be his one chance to play a test.

"For as long as I've loved cricket, I wanted to play tests, even though it's late in my career," Ronchi said. "I'm not taking it for granted, that's for sure. I tried to enjoy the experience as much as I could. I didn't want to feel nervous and not play naturally.

"I'm lucky to be given a chance and had a decent first day. It was a good day for the team, too, after being two for two. We built partnerships and pushed the game along with the run rate. There was no specific plan to do so, but players just did their natural thing.

"I got away with a bit, that first ball going over the slips was pretty lucky, but Tommy [Latham] was batting well and I tried to support him."

New Zealand's sixth-wicket partnership again came to the rescue, as it has with two world records in the past 15 months. Latham and Ronchi put on 120 to take New Zealand to 264 before Ronchi succumbed to a trap, hooking Stuart Broad to James Anderson at fine leg.

"There were about four of them there [on the legside] so I knew where the ball was going. Some of them I played okay, some I didn't, but I didn't want to premeditate anything," Ronchi said. "It was a good plan. Sometimes I thought, 'I won't play the pull shot or hook shot as much' but I couldn't stop myself trying to hit, so I think it worked well for them."

Anderson's dismissal of Martin Guptill earlier in the innings made him the first Englishman to take 400 test wickets.

"It was nice to get it out of the way early so I could concentrate on bowling," Anderson deadpanned. "It's a proud moment but feels surreal, given those who are on the list in the past." He felt they didn't fully meet their expectations after such a dominant start.

"To give away 4.5 runs an over was not good by our standards. When we didn't bowl well, they punished us. It's not a shock they scored as they did, but at least we took wickets."