A career-best score of 190 made on Day 2 of the Trent Bridge Test was personally marked as a thing of joy by Daryl Mitchell, who, however, also felt the pinch of dropping two critical catches when England’s turn came to bat.
Following his hundred in Lord’s with another daddy effort with the bat, Mitchell helped propel the tourists to an impregnable 532 all out in the first-innings. But his two drop catches denied the Black Caps a chance to put England under irrevocable pressure, as they could eventually end play at a safe-looking score of 90 for 1.
Trying to give words to a mixed bag of emotions he felt, Mitchell kept a sense of perspective about things and stressed on his knock as a triumph without feeling any bitterness for missing out on what would’ve been his maiden first-class double hundred.
“To be honest, a double-hundred personally doesn’t mean a hell of a lot, it was just nice to contribute to a score that can help win us a Test match. Anything over a hundred’s pretty good, so I was just trying to do a good job for the team,”
he was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
They say cricket is a leveller and Mitchell felt it big time after shelling two catching opportunities which may have given New Zealand an early foot into the winning door.
Desperate to level the series, the tourists had to swallow the bitter pill when their top-scorer let go a catch of Alex Lees when he was on 12 and later dropped Ollie Pope, who stood on 41 at the time.
While disappointed to have conceded those chances, Mitchell said he is focused on ensuring he is upbeat and is on top of his fielding game for the next opportunity that comes his way.
“I think that’s the nature of the game, anyone who’s played cricket has dropped a catch in their life. For me, I can’t control what happens now but it’s just concentrating on the next one and taking the next one. It’s just the game of cricket,”
he said.
