WHO DARES WINS
Sloppy England pay the price as Mitchell fires brilliant 190
SCOREBOARD
England v New Zealand
(Day 2 of 5)
TRENT BRIDGE: England trail New Zealand by 463 runs with nine first-innings wickets in hand
NEW ZEALAND: First Innings
(Overnight 318-4)
D Mitchell c Foakes b Potts
T Blundell c Stokes b Leach
M Bracewell c Root b Anderson
K Jamieson c Foakes b Broad
T Southee c Root b Broad 4 M Henry c Crawley b Leach 0 T Boult not out 16 B1 lb16 nb8 25 Total (145.3 overs) 553
Fall: 84, 84, 161, 169, 405, 496, 513, 517, 520.
Bowling: Anderson 27-9-62-3, Broad 26-4107-2, Potts 30.3-6-126-1, Stokes 23-2-85-2, Leach 35-6-140-2, Root 4-0-16-0.
ENGLAND: First Inns
A Lees not out
Z Crawley c Blundell b Boult
O Pope not out
B1
Total (1 wkt., 26 overs)
6.
DARYL MITCHELL left England with a massive job to save the second Test.
The Black Caps’ man-inform followed up his ton at Lord’s by inflicting yet more damage on Ben Stokes (right) and his team.
The tough right-hander was the last man out – falling 10 runs short of a double ton – as the tourists’ turned the screw at Trent Bridge.
It was the third-highest individual score in this country by a New Zealander and, along with fellow centurion Tom Blundell, it has put the visitors in a dominant position.
Not that England did not contribute to their own problems. After spurning four chances on the opening day, they were at it again.
A horror spill by Matthew Potts allowed Mitchell to crack on shortly after reaching his three figures, enabling the Black Caps to build both a formidable total and take control.
It is now up to England’s brittle batting line-up to prove they are up for a fight against opponents who are clearly still smarting from last week’s defeat.
Damage caused by the early loss of Zak Crawley was repaired by Alex Lees and Ollie Pope.
Frightening
The latter grabbing his first half-century at No.3 in an unbroken second-wicket stand of 84.
England batting coach Marcus Trescothick said: “We had to toil hard to bowl them out on what seems like a good pitch.
“But it’s just the start of some more hard work that we have got ahead of us.
“But it is a good pitch –
and potentially the fastest outfield in the country – it’s absolutely frightening – so the score is always going to go up.
“There were good signs there at the end with Alex and Ollie – but we’ve got to put runs on the board. That’s what the game is about.”
Mitchell certainly did that. He started the day adding the 19 runs needed to claim backto-back centuries following his knock at the home of cricket. Then came a ‘what if’ moment for England.
The right-hander was timing the ball beautifully but decided to smack England’s left-arm spinner Jack Leach into the pavilion – only to fall short.
Potts was wellplaced to take
the chance on the boundary edge. But he misjudged it horribly, the ball brushing his fingers before hitting his knee and and rolling over the rope.
England finally ended Mitchell’s 236-run partnership for the fifth
wicket with Blundell.
They set a record in London. And bettered it
in Nottingham.
The tourists’ wicket-keeper hit his own milestone with the minimum of fuss, giving England their only scalp before the rain break, trying to lift Leach over the top and falling to Stokes’ safe hands.
A delay after an afternoon shower gave England a chance to re-group. They came up with
a plan: If they
could not bowl them out they would bore them out.
It worked. After four balls of one Jimmy Anderson over that drifted by, the fifth teased a shot out of debutant Michael Bracewell (49) that was gobbled up by Joe Root at first slip with the final four wickets yielding 57 runs.
Mitchell was last to go. He’d been running out of partners as the lower order crumbled. Finally, he nicked one behind from Potts.
England’s reply started in typical fashion. Crawley edged one from Trent Boult that was angled across him.
Ironically, Mitchell then took some of the sheen from his day – putting down chances at first slip as both Lees and Pope were let off.
But that did not overshadow his earlier effort. It has given the Black Caps a perfect platform from which to dictate the game. England have it all to do.