Mitchell and Blundell, Blondall and Mitchell. Will no one rid England of these stormy bats? For the third consecutive test, Daryl Mitchell and Tom Blundle have entered into a century-old partnership, and now Mitchell is on the threshold of the third century in successive tests. How should England kick that it hasn’t reviewed Matt Potts’ foot appeal before it was rejected. Ben Fawkes did well in all the series, but he made that call and understandably, given that the player is a rookie, Ben Stokes gave himself to him properly, giving him responsibility.
But that shouldn’t detract from another good bowling effort by Stuart Broad, the unfortunate Potts and the lively Jamie Overton. Even better was the improvement shown by Jack Leach. He must have worked with Jitan Patel in the last 10 days after Trent Bridge because he managed to do far fewer descents and showed signs of drift that was not part of his weaponry before. That was for Will Young. Perhaps just as importantly, the audience in Heddingley loves him for 2019 and his gallantry and welcomes his every touch. If your supporters embrace you, confidence will soon come.
Rain is forecast for after tea, but it still looks amazing when the sun rises. England will hope to keep New Zealand at around 350, accumulate runs (although they will face Neil Wagner for the first time in the series, a bowler they have found very difficult in the past) and hope Leach will be able to overcome them. . He may have to. Broad has done a lot of work in this series, Stokes has not played yet and may not have played throughout the game, Potts will work all day, but he and Overton are raw at this level.
Anyway, let’s get started.
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