2 minute read
Late on in this game, you wondered whether England had even the faintest awareness of what was going on with their opponents – not just the things that were going well for them; the things that might be worth copying, but also all of the things that were very much not going the tourists’ way and which should have left them vulnerable.
England fought back impressively well after conceding that colossal head start, but New Zealand then fought back from that fightback. Maybe that was the game’s full allotment of backfighting. England certainly looked broken by the end, but New Zealand must have only been hanging by a thread.
Two long weeks ago, the Kiwis lost the best batter they’ve ever had to retirement. That’s a bit of a blow when you’re 1-0 down with two Tests to play.
They levelled the series anyway, but then lost the guy who’d just taken 11 wickets in the match and also the guy who’d hit a first innings hundred. At this point, they concluded they would also have to rest their other opening bowler due to workload concerns. Those are pretty big follow-up blows.
Not too long into the third Test, they lost one of their replacement quicks to concussion, and then two more suffered debilitating finger injuries to their bowling hands. Who’d be a New Zealand bowler in 2026? Presumably everyone by the end of the year at this rate of attrition.
It begs the querstion, how many blows can one team take? About as many as Daryl Mitchell took in the second innings, apparently.
Last time Mitchell came to England, he made three hundreds and two fifties in six innings. He played brilliantly and New Zealand lost every match. This time he only reached three figures once and quite often looked dreadful in doing so – but New Zealand won.
Mitchell’s 100 not out off 241 balls was by any measure a gruelling effort. Ball hit batter more frequently than batter hit ball. It took him 170 balls to reach 50 and as well as countless body blows, we’re pretty sure he went through at least three helmets.
Until a salvo of late blows with the tail, it was hideous stuff really. Was this his best hundred, or his worst hundred, or his best hundred because it was his worst hundred?
And do England even realise that it happened?