New Zealand were scoring at nearly four runs an over, a rapid rate that served to underline England's frustration at the injuries to quicks Jofra Archer and Mark Wood.
GROWING UP SKIPPER FULL
He took full advantage, following the century he bagged at Lord's with another crucial innings. Mitchell had just three runs when he was dropped by Joe Root off Stokes. Potts did not find it so funny when he was on the receiving end of some punishment from Mitchell and Blundell, who both hammered fours off the seamer in one over. The soaked woman's predicament drew a comical reaction from England's Matthew Potts, who was seen trying to act out the incident for the benefit of his team-mates moments later. He went on the attack against spinner Jack Leach after tea, reverse-sweeping a four, then launching a towering six that splash-landed in a fan's pint of beer in the stands. Mitchell hit nine fours and two sixes in his unbeaten 81. There was a little bit of swing for the bowlers at times but it was a pretty true, good surface." "The pitch played a lot better than it looked. We were quite keen to bowl first as well this morning but, after losing the toss, we thought putting on 300 in a day on a wicket like that is actually a very good effort," Conway said.
Latham admitted he would also have bowled first given the chance, but said he might be reconsidering that verdict after his team seized control in emphatic fashion. Nicholls eventually edged Stokes to wicketkeeper Ben Foakes, who also took the catch when Conway nicked one behind soon afterwards off Anderson. Stokes dismissed Young for 47 and, the very next ball, stand-in skipper Latham fell to James Anderson for 26.īut New Zealand stayed positive, continuing to find the boundaries regularly as Devon Conway (46) and Tom Nicholls (30) kept the visitors on top. World Test champions New Zealand, who lost a gripping first Test at Lord's, were without Covid-hit Kane Williamson after the skipper was ruled out on Thursday evening.ĭespite Williamson's absence, the Kiwis punished some wayward England bowling, with Mitchell and Blundell amassing an undefeated 149-run partnership after Tom Latham and Will Young put on 84 for the first wicket. Mitchell's aggressive 81 not out and an unbeaten 67 from Tom Blundell made England captain Ben Stokes pay for his decision to bowl first on a flat pitch at Trent Bridge.Įngland's wounds were mostly self-inflicted, with three dropped catches as the bowling and fielding flaws that plagued them in recent months returned with a vengeance.