… Daryl Mitchell scores 190, his second ton in consecutive innings
DARYL Mitchell’s superb 190 gave New Zealand complete control of the second Test against England on day two at Trent Bridge.
Mitchell’s knock, allied to 106 from Tom Blundell and 49 by debutant Michael Bracewell carried the tourists to 553 all out.
It is the third-highest total England have ever conceded after inserting the opposition, and largest for 33 years.
Mitchell, who was dropped on three on Friday, also benefited from being put down on 104 by Matthew Potts.
England lost Zak Crawley for only four, but recovered to 90-1, with Ollie Pope on 51 and Alex Lees 34.
Mitchell repaid England’s generosity with two drops of his own at first slip, one each for Lees and Pope.
England will begin today 463 behind, looking for a way to somehow preserve their 1-0 series lead.
NEW ZEALAND CASH IN
After their errors of the first day – putting New Zealand into bat and then missing four catches – there was always the danger that England would be made to pay yesterday.
Once Mitchell and Blundell came through a morning burst with a second new ball that was only seven overs old, New Zealand took full advantage of ideal batting conditions.
There were early warning signs that England could lose the plot – Potts’ drop of Mitchell was poor, mistakes crept into the ground fielding and captain Ben Stokes did not bring himself on to bowl until almost 90 minutes into the day.
However, the hosts stuck to their task, exhausting various plans in the hope they might eventually find a way through the New Zealand batting. At one stage they were rewarded with three wickets in the space of seven balls.
Even on such a flat pitch, there was the worry that England’s batting would crumble after their long stint in the field – they have wilted in similar circumstances on plenty of occasions in the recent past.
Had Mitchell held the catches the hosts would be in huge peril, but to have nine wickets in hand on the third morning gives them the opportunity to bat towards a far safer position.
MAGNIFICENT MITCHELL GOES BIG
Mitchell might not have played in this series had Henry Nicholls not been ruled out of the first Test, yet he has seized his opportunity with centuries on consecutive Saturdays.
Blundell missed out on three figures at Lord’s, but made no mistake this time, becoming the first New Zealand wicketkeeper to make a Test hundred in England.
From 318-4 overnight, with Mitchell resuming on 81 and Blundell 67, they extended their fifth-wicket partnership to 236 – a New Zealand record against all-comers.
Both were determined to attack spinner Jack Leach. Mitchell took his tally of sixes to four with two hits over long-on, where he was also dropped by Potts. Blundell completed his hundred off the same bowler before miscuing to mid-off.
Mitchell then added 91 with the assured Bracewell, the scoreboard rattling along after lunch. With fielders scattered everywhere, only when Bracewell edged James Anderson to slip did England have an opening.
Mitchell was last out, chasing a wide one from Potts as he closed in on a double-century. He left with his highest first-class score, congratulations from the England players and the acclaim of the Trent Bridge crowd.
England begin long road back
Bar the Potts drop, it is difficult to think of what England could have done differently given the situation they found themselves in at the beginning of the day.
Left-armer Leach again struggled to respond to New Zealand’s assault, but at least claimed his first home wicket in exactly 1 000 days.
Broad, playing the day after the pub he part-owns was severely damaged in a fire, took the wickets of Kyle Jamieson and Tim Southee in the same over to make some amends for the two catches missed off his bowling on Friday.
Crawley’s worrying habit of edging behind continued when he nicked Trent Boult, but Lees and Pope mixed handsome shots with moments of fortune in their stand of 84.
Lees was on 12 when Mitchell put down an edge off Southee, leaving the left-hander to drive nicely in what is his highest Test score.
Pope hooked two sixes – one a top edge – before he poked at Boult on 37 and was dropped in what possibly should have been keeper Blundell’s catch.
In only his third innings in his new position of number three, Pope moved to a half-century from 66 balls, his first for England since last September. (BBC Sport)
NEW ZEALAND 1st innings
Tom Latham c Matthew Potts b James Anderson 26
Will Young c Zak Crawley b Ben Stokes 47
Devon Conway c Ben Foakes b James Anderson 46
Henry Nicholls c Ben Foakes b Ben Stokes 30
Daryl Mitchell c Ben Foakes b Matthew Potts 190
Tom Blundell c Ben Stokes b Jack Leach 106
Michael Bracewell c Joe Root b James Anderson 49
Kyle Jamieson c Ben Foakes b Stuart Broad 14
Tim Southee c Joe Root b Stuart Broad 4
Matt Henry c Zak Crawley b Jack Leach 0
Trent Boult not out 16
Extras: (b-1, lb-16, nb-8) 25
Total: (all out, 145.3 overs) 553
Fall of wickets: 1-84, 2-84, 3-161, 4-169, 5-405, 6-496, 7-513, 8-517, 9-520,
Bowling: James Anderson 27-9-62-3, Stuart Broad 26-4-107-2 (nb-2), Matthew Potts 30.3-6-126-1, Ben Stokes 23-2-85-2 (nb-6), Jack Leach 35-6-140-2, Joe Root 4-0-16-0.
ENGLAND 1st innings
Alex Lees not out 34
Zak Crawley c Tom Blundell b Trent Boult 4
Ollie Pope not out 51
Extras: (b-1) 1
Total: (one wkt, 26.0 overs) 90
Fall of wickets: 1-6
Bowling: Tim Southee 7-1-21-0, Trent Boult 7-1-18-1, Matt Henry 6-3-30-0, Kyle Jamieson 6-2-20-0.
