"Probably hasn't sunk in yet, pretty surreal"- Daryl Mitchell after scoring his maiden Test century
New Zealand's Daryl Mitchell smashed his first Test century (102*) on the third day of the second Test against Pakistan. Following the knock, the all-rounder said it was almost surreal and the feeling was yet to sink in.
Playing in just his fourth Test match, Daryl Mitchell, who is primarily seen as a bowling all-rounder, walked into bat at 452-5 after the fall of BJ Watling's wicket.
Mitchell thanked Kiwi skipper Kane Williamson and the coaching staff for delaying the declaration so that he could go on and get his century.
"It probably hasn't sunk in yet, to be fair, pretty surreal at the moment ... to get a Test century is pretty cool. I was just happy to go out there and try and be busy and contribute to try and put a total on for us to try and get ten wickets. My role was just to try and get a total and see what we could do.” said Daryl Mitchell.
"I was given two overs to start after tea, so I thought after two overs we were off. Obviously very grateful for Kane and the coaching staff to allow me to get that milestone. I was swinging pretty hard there at points to try and get there and very grateful for that to happen.” the 29-year-old added.
As soon as Daryl Mitchell reached his three figure-mark with a boundary, New Zealand declared at 659-6.
Pakistan currently find themselves in a precarious position at 8-1 in the second innings, trailing the hosts by 354 runs at stumps on day three.
Daryl Mitchell reveals he played with Kane Williamson when they were 14
Kane Williamson was at his usual best as he scored a double century (238) and formed a 133-run partnership with Mitchell.
The New Zealand captain showed immense power of concentration as he batted for 364 balls before being dismissed by Faheem Ashraf.
Daryl Mitchell was all praise for the 30-year-old and termed him as a freak. The all-rounder also felt Williamson would go down as New Zealand's greatest-ever cricketer.
"He's a freak, isn't he. He's amazing. He makes the game look so easy at the moment and the way he's going about things it's cool top see him doing so well. For me, I played against Kane when we were about 14 years old and now to be playing Test cricket with him is pretty cool. He's a very special player and probably easily go down as NZ's greatest, I think," said the centurion.
Daryl Mitchell made his debut in 2019 at the age of 28 against England. He is undoubtedly proving his worth at the latter stage of his career for the Blackcaps.