Daryl Mitchell is still unfazed by a fall in luck after posting a career-high 190

• Daryl Mitchell made his highest first-class score.
• New Zealand’s Trent Boult takes over at No 11 to become most prolific.
• Mitchell drops two catches at first slip to leave him level with Boult.

Daryl Mitchell, with sorry to Rudyard Kipling, is someone who can experience both glorious victory and massive failure and treat them equally.

Mitchell’s reaction to a day in which he made his highest first-class score and dropped two catches at first slip late in the day can only be explained in this way.

Of course, the highest first-class score was a triumph. But perhaps missing out on a maiden double-hundred by just ten runs soured the taste a little? Not really

Read more: Mitchell and Blundell put New Zealand on top against England

We’ll get to that later, but first, there were two missed opportunities that had to sting a little. Mitchell shelled a fairly standard edge off Tim Southee with Alex Lees on 12.

Mitchell’s calmness served him well during another day of near-perfect batting. A quick outfield and a good pitch have helped, but England has struggled to find ways to not only get him out, but also keep his scoring rate under control: his 311 runs in the series have come at a strike rate of just under 56.

Read more: Mitchell, Neesham star as New Zealand down England to reach World Cup final

The Boult subplot concluded the inning. The lower-order was keeping Mitchell company to get him to his double at the time. However, a far more significant milestone was at stake: Boult began his innings today with 607 Test runs at No. 11, needing 17 to pass Muthiah Muralidaran as the most prolific No. 11 in Test history.

Four impeccable boundaries brought Boult level before Mitchell chased and edged a wide one, to not only miss his double but to leave Boult level. It was a record Boult was very much aware of when he went out. And it turns out, so too was Mitchell