The 21-year-old, batting at No.3 for the first time in his first-class career, earned praise for how he shaped up in battling for 34 balls against a testing new ball spell in the first innings, and cashed in when the game was all but decided in the second. He crashed eight fours - including four in five balls off fellow debutant Nathan Smith - before pulling for six in what would turn out to be the game’s final over. Another pull, this time on the ground for a single, took England past New Zealand and brought up fifty off a mere 37 balls.
Only one player in Test history has brought up a half-century on debut more quickly: Tim Southee, coincidentally one of those punished by Bethell’s mayhem as his own Test career winds down.
The other to make a fifty as quickly as Bethell also did so in an England-New Zealand Test. Luke Ronchi blasted 88 off 70 balls at Headingley in 2015 to help the Black Caps to a series-levelling victory. The fastest fifty by anyone in Test history remains Misbah-ul-Haq’s 21-ball effort against Australia in 2015, while England’s fastest was made earlier this year, Ben Stokes reaching the mark in 24 balls, like Bethell in a small chase, opening the batting in the absence of Zak Crawley at Edgbaston against West Indies.
First Test fifty ✅
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) December 1, 2024
Hits the winning runs ✅
Jacob Bethell makes an immediate mark in Test cricket.#NZvENG pic.twitter.com/GCAttNTtSl
Bethell’s innings went a long way to answering the debate around England’s decision to bat him at No.3, despite him having no experience in the role and never making a first-class hundred. England face a decision over the make-up of their team for the second Test, with wicketkeeper Ollie Robinson available and a cloud over Ben Stokes’ bowling fitness complicating matters. Whatever happens, Bethell has shown, after impressing in white-ball cricket for England over the last few months, that he can handle the red ball as well.
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