Cricket News : England Vs New Zealand 3rd Test - Daryl Mitchell takes NZ beyond 200 on Day 1
A fine and gripping day of Test cricket! With England having a good start by grabbing hands-on early wickets, one of them being a truly bizarre one, New Zealand saved the day by avoiding the fall of any wicket in the final session
Daryl Mitchell-Tom Blundell to rescue KiwisDaryl Mitchell-Tom Blundell to rescue Kiwis yet again
This bizarre breakthrough followed an unbeaten 102-run stand in 208 balls between Daryl Mitchell and Tom Blundell as the duo thwarted England in similar ways as in the first two test matches. They assembled their third consecutive 100-plus run stand for the series. Daryl Mitchell scored an unbeaten 78, whereas Tom Blundell remained not out at 45, giving the much-needed stability to New Zealand's inning while batting first.
The day stumped at 225 at a loss of 5 wickets, with Jack Leech bowling 30 overs on the first day, speaking volumes about the pitch not being too pace-friendly. It will be interesting to see if Daryl Mitchell and Tom Blundell can expand the total to be troublesome for hosts or if England bowlers will start another day by dominating with the ball.
Stuart Broad gets crucial breakthroughs, while Jack Leech got lucky off Henry Nicholls
New Zealand, on winning the toss, opted to bat first. However, Stuart Broad struck Tom Latham for a duck in the first over. Will Young and Kane Williamson partnered for 35 runs, and as the momentum looked to build, Jack Leech nailed the LBW to Will Young (20), leaving Kiwis at 35/2. Following these wickets, Kane Williamson and Devon Conway looked to stay longer on the crease. Still, they couldn't capitalise on their innings as they lost their wickets to Stuart Broad and Jamie Overton.
Henry Nicholls fetched only 19 runs after playing 99 balls as he was dismissed bizarrely by Jack Leech. As the bowler bowled a fuller delivery from over the wicket, Nicholls struck it down the track, approaching Daryl Mitchell on the non-strikers' end, who failed to take his bat out of the way. The ball hits the sweet spot of Mitchell's bat, lobs over an evading Richard Kettleborough and ultimately lands in the hand of Alex Lees at mid-off, thus, given out.
According to law 33.2.2.3: The batter will be out if a fielder catches the ball after it has touched the wicket, an umpire, another fielder, a runner or the other umpire.