Innings break New Zealand 438 and 288 for 9 dec (Mitchell 100*, Sears 19*) lead England 354 by 372 runs
Mitchell was battered but unbowed after holding off England for two-and-a-half sessions, glueing New Zealand’s second innings together as batting became more challenging on a wearing pitch. He put on 129 with Rachin Ravindra, who made 94, and then eked out vital runs with the tail after England, inspired by another gut-busting spell from Stokes, fought back with four wickets in the middle session.
Having ground his way to a 170-ball half-century, Mitchell returned after tea on 63 not out in the company of the No. 10, Ben Sears, and immediately upped the tempo. He hooked Josh Tongue for six over deep midwicket, then launched Gus Atkinson down the ground, putting on 50 from 58 balls with Sears.
He was briefly halted on 85 when taking yet another blow – this time from Atkinson to the helmet – but fought on, losing Sears to a damaged finger and then Will O’Rourke, palpably lbw (the ball actually brushed off stump after hitting the pads). But Sears returned with his injury bandaged and help get Mitchell to his century, from 241 balls, his fourth in Tests against England and one celebrated with a guttural roar.
England had claimed four wickets between lunch and tea, but that became a subplot in the wider drama of the summer, as Stokes’ retirement was announced even as he prepared to charge in for the 11th over of another gut-busting spell.
With the news filtering around Trent Bridge, and the crowd standing to applaud Stokes at the top of his mark, he ran in and removed New Zealand’s No. 9, Zak Foulkes, in a moment that almost appeared choreographed in its perfection. Stokes, who had told the dressing room of his plans on the morning of day four, tore off in celebration, arms spread wide, before being engulfed by his team-mates.
Foulkes had at least hung around for almost 13 overs alongside Mitchell, whose innings formed the main roadblock for the touring side. Their lead at tea sat at 318 runs with two wickets standing, which was likely to present a considerable challenge for England to chase on a wearing surface. New Zealand added just 54 in the session, having accrued 60 in the morning, as batting became a struggle.
At the interval, the crowd stood to applaud Stokes again as he walked off the field, having bowled throughout the session for figures of 11-1-16-2. As ever with Stokes, the numbers only told half the story.
After being frustrated for almost the entirety of the morning session, England snapped up three wickets in the space of 10 balls after lunch. Jofra Archer claimed his third and fourth of the innings, having Tom Blundell caught in the deep and Nathan Smith at the wicket, either side of Mitchell Santner edging Stokes behind.
Mitchell had ticked over to his fifty, from 170 balls, after the dismissal of Blundell but refused to change his approach and found another dogged partner in the shape of Foulkes, who soaked up 41 balls for his 6 and checked England’s momentum as they threatened to wrap up New Zealand with the lead below 300.
Until the dismissal of Ravindra, five minutes before the lunch break, New Zealand’s fourth-wicket pair had weathered everything that England – and an increasingly up-and-down pitch – could throw at them during the morning session.
Ravindra and Mitchell only scored 60 runs across 23.4 overs, as England’s attack plugged away manfully, but it was enough to take their partnership into three figures and push New Zealand closer to a defendable score. That batting fourth is likely to be challenging was only highlighted when Stokes turned belatedly to spin and Shoaib Bashir trapped Ravindra lbw going back to one that kept low with his fourth ball.
The closest they came to being separated before that was when Mitchell was given out lbw in the second over of the morning, off the bowling of Archer. Ball-tracking showed it would have cleared middle stump, however, and Rod Tucker had to overturn his decision – to the delight of Mitchell, who was animated in celebrating his reprieve.
He had less to smile about as the first hour wore on, repeatedly taking blows on the hands and body, with Stokes in particular managing to exploit the surface’s variable bounce. Mitchell managed six runs in the first 55 minutes of the day, before edging Josh Tongue through a vacant second slip for four. He also then went scoreless for more than half an hour as lunch approached.
If England were to tip a see-sawing contest back their way, they needed early wickets. But despite Stokes finding movement during an eight-over opening spell that returned figures of 8-1-14-0 and Archer winning a decision (overturned on review) with his second delivery, the efforts of the four-man seam attack were fruitless.
Mitchell bore the brunt of it, with Stokes pinging him on the forearm, and at least two other balls rapping him painful blows on the gloves. When one delivery took off past the outside edge, Jamie Smith, standing up to the stumps through large parts of the session, copped a blow on the grille of his helmet.
Ravindra was more fluent, pulled Stokes firmly through midwicket and then whipping Archer off his pads for four more. New Zealand added 26 in the first hour, and then another 34 in the second; Ravindra moving into the 90s with a thick edge through third and then a clip off the pads in the space of two balls, but was unable to convert what would have been his sixth Test hundred.
Alan Gardner is a deputy editor at Cricinfo. @alanroderick
