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''He was heavily involved''- Sangakkara lauds Daryl Mitchell's work-ethics as batter runs rampant in England

Former Sri Lankan captain and current head coach of the Rajasthan Royals, Kumar Sangakkara, paid tribute to Daryl Mitchell's work ethic during the recent IPL season after the Kiwi batsman smashed his 3rd hundred of the series against England.


Mitchell, who was picked as an injury replacement of Henry Nicholls for the opening Test at Lord's, has nailed a permanent spot down in the New Zealand line-up courtesy of record-breaking performance in the three Tests.


The right-hander hit his 2nd Test ton in the second innings at Lord's to rescue the sinking ship and followed it up with a brilliant 190 in the 1st innings of the Nottingham Test.



He scored an unbeaten 131-ball 62 in the 2nd innings and backed it up with another rescue act at Leeds, lifting the tourists from 123-5 to a potential match-winning 329 courtesy of a defiant 109 off 228.


Mitchell has been brilliant since last year's T20 World Cup in the UAE. He earned an IPL contract with the Rajasthan Royals at the mega-auction. While he barely got any game time, he made it a point to attend every team meeting and ask incisive questions, revealed Sangakkara during his commentary stint on Sky Sports.


"He carried his iPad to every team meeting, took notes and asked questions. It wasn't asking questions for the sake of asking questions, and he was heavily involved. The way he carried himself, in a bio-bubble for over two months, the hard work he put in at the nets despite playing two matches, it was top-class," Sangakkara spoke on his methods.


Given his latest ton, Mitchell has become the 1st New Zealand cricketer to score three hundred in as many Tests against England. He has also become the first batsman from his country after Bert Sutcliffe to score more than 400 runs in a Test series against England. Sutcliffe scored 451 runs during the BlackCaps 1949 tour of the UK.



Mitchell has also joined an elite of overseas cricketers who have scored three tons in a series in England. India's Rahul Dravid (2002 & 2011) did it twice, while Pakistan's Mohammad Yousuf (2006) and Australia's Steve Smith (2019) have achieved the feat once.


Meanwhile, New Zealand have taken complete control of the Leeds Test thanks to a devastating spell of swing bowling from Trent Boult, Neil Wagner and Tim Southee. At the time of writing, England were reeling at 91/6.