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As England looked to fight New Zealand’s tall total of 553 in the first innings, young batter Alex Lees stepped up and took charge. The Halifax-born played an incredible knock after losing his opening partner Zak Crawley for the score of six, Alex Lees stitched up an incredible partnership with Ollie Pope.
The duo combined to put up a massive 132 when Lees perished for the score of 67 in 125 balls. This knock was full of attrition and poise as the Yorkshireman received a standing ovation from the crowd at Trent Bridge. Alex Lees’ knock included 11 fours at a strike rate of 53.60.
But so far the star of the tournament has been, Kiwi all-rounder Daryl Mitchell who scored another scintillating knock of 190 runs in 318 balls with 23 fours and four sixes. But after the second day’s play, Mitchell addressed how the double hundred wasn’t of much importance as he just wanted to bat well and help the team.
"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, and it's always good fun batting with Boulty [Trent Boult] at the end there, he always provides a bit of entertainment," said Mitchell.
“We just enjoy batting with each other,” Mitchell
He also talked about batting with Trent Boult as he made the record of scoring the most runs as a number 11 batter. "We get on really well, he's a great man. He's quite quiet and he's very clear about how he wants to play his game. We just enjoy batting with each other, maybe we complement each other well," added Mitchell.