Curran and rain to the rescue for wobbly England against New Zealand in T20 opener

Even before the rain fell, the start of England’s winter had become something of a damp squib. On a cool Christchurch evening their batters had been surprised by movement off the seam – “You don’t expect that in white-ball cricket, so when it does do a little bit it’s almost a shock,” said Harry Brook – and becalmed by the spin of Mitchell Santner and Michael Bracewell, and they duly wobbled their way to 81 for five before first Sam Curran seemed to rescue them, and then the weather definitively did.

Only two batters scored more than 20, with the dismissal of Jos Buttler for 29, the former captain becoming the fifth man to fall, concluding a feeble start to England’s innings before Curran’s 49 improved their outlook.

“To have him back in the side, he’s a very valuable player to us now with bat, ball and in the field,” said Brook. “For him to get us out of a bit of a hole and up to a respectable total was awesome. He’s a valuable player to have in the middle order, a left-hander as well – he’s going to be around for a while, I think.”

Before play Brook had been presented with a commemorative cap – almost identical to his non-commemorative one – to mark his 50th appearance in this format, the white-ball captain becoming the 14th Englishman to reach the mark. But the one on his headwear was the only peak in his evening, which went on to feature a lost coin toss and a similarly unfortunate dismissal, bowled off his pads just as he clicked into gear after an awkward start.

What luck England had was greedily hoovered up by Curran, the beneficiary of three extraordinary let-offs. He was on 14 when he skied a Jacob Duffy delivery high into the Canterbury sky, from which rain had, handily, just started to fall. The ball returned freshly lubricated and duly slipped through the bowler’s fingers.

The rain did not go away in Christchurch as England’s first T20 in New Zealand was abandoned. Photograph: Joe Allison/Getty Images

A 10-minute rain delay and seven deliveries later Curran, now on 26, lifted the ball towards point, where Tim Robinson did not have to move his feet but still could not sort out his hands. Then in the next over Curran tried to paddle a Kyle Jamieson delivery that was too full for that sort of treatment, missed it completely and was pinned on the front pad.

There was little doubt about where the ball was heading, and the on-field umpire certainly had none, but by this point Curran was the last recognised batter and England had reviews to burn. Having had one look at a replay the 27-year-old was halfway towards the dressing room, gloves off, when it was established that the ball had pitched outside leg stump and he was summoned back. He added another 19 runs off his last eight balls to carry England to 153 for six, at which point the rain returned to curtail the contest.

But their failure to answer the questions posed by New Zealand’s bowlers does not mean England will be seeking any alternative solutions. “Obviously we didn’t get the start we wanted but the message is going to be just double down,” said Brook. “There’s a reason why the team is laid out the way it is – because if we get into situations like that we always have someone who can get us out of the problem.”

New Zealand’s Jacob Duffy drops a catch off Sam Curran. The England batter’s second highest T20 score came after he was dropped twice – he also reversed being given out lbw to Kyle Jamieson. Photograph: Sanka Vidanagama/AFP/Getty Images

Despite those two drops, New Zealand will be buoyed up by the way they sunk England’s theoretically fathoms-deep batting lineup, their six bowlers taking a single wicket apiece. “Not knowing how the game would have played out we can only judge on our performance and I guess we’re happy with where we’re at,” said Jamieson. “I think we made good improvements from when we played Australia a couple of weeks ago. It’s just growth really. As long as we continue along that path that’s a win for us, and that’s what success looks like.”