New Zealand all-rounder Daryl Mitchell has been in sublime form with the bat in white-ball cricket this year. Playing for Lancashire in ongoing T20 Blast 2023, Mitchell smashed an unbeaten 41-ball 85 as he made Nottinghamshire pay for the dropped catches. Mitchell batted with a strike rate of 207.32 and helped Lancashire win the match by 22 runs at Old Trafford, Manchester.
Dropped catches cost Nottinghamshire
Mitchell walked in to bat at no.4 in the eighth over after Lancashire openers Phil Salt and Luke Wells had set a good platform by utilizing the fielding restrictions in powerplay overs. Nottinghamshire had a chance to dismiss Mitchell for a single-digit score but his catch was dropped off Steve Mullaney's bowling in the 11th over. In the 15th over, Mullaney had a chance to dismiss Mitchell when he was batting on 32 but dropped a catch off his own bowling.
Mitchell vs Afridi in death overs
In the 16th over, he reached his half-century from 26 balls. After skipper Livingstone got dismissed in the 18th over, Mitchell went ballistic against Pakistan speedster Shaheen Afridi. He flicked the ball off his pads and muscled the ball over long-on for consecutive sixes. In the last over, Mitchell took Afridi on and scooped a fuller delivery over fine leg boundary. He helped Lancashire post 208/4. His 85-run knock was laced with four fours and six sixes. Pakistan's left-arm pacer turned out to be the most expensive bowlers of the lot conceding 47 runs from his quota of four overs.
Failed run chase
In reply, Nottinghamshire Joe Clarke and Alex Hales departed early. Despite Colin Munro's 29-ball 60, Nottinghamshire middle-order batters failed to keep up with the required run rate and lost the match by 22 runs.
Mitchell in ODIs
Earlier, Mithcell smashed scored two centuries against Pakistan in the ODI series. He filled in the no.3 spot in the absence of an injured Kane Williamson who is doubtful for the ODI World Cup in India later this year.
No taker in IPL auction
Before Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023, Mitchell was released by Rajasthan Royals (RR). He was roped in for his base price of Rs 75 lakh last year. However, in the mini-auction he was not on wish list of franchises and went unsold.
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