images

Name: Daryl Joseph Mitchell

Born: 20 May 1991

Daryll Mitchell is a New Zealand cricketer who plays all formats of the game for the New Zealand national team and represents Canterbury in domestic cricket. He is the son of John Mitchell, a New Zealand rugby union coach and former player. Mitchell spent five formative years in Perth, Australia, where he shared the field with Australian cricketers such as Andrew Tye, Marcus Harris, and Marcus Stoinis. He played school cricket with Hale and club cricket with Scarborough, representing Western Australia Under 19s and 23s. His family moved to Western Australia in 2006 when his father became head coach of the Western Force rugby union.

Mitchell began his domestic cricket career in New Zealand with Northern Districts, turning up for the team in 2012 while still pursuing a bachelor's degree in exercise and sports science. In June 2018, he was awarded a contract with Northern Districts for the 2018–19 season. Mitchell moved to Canterbury in June 2020. In November 2020, during the 2020–21 Plunket Shield season, he took his first five-wicket haul in first-class cricket, with figures of 5/44 against Otago.

Mitchell's performances in domestic cricket earned him a central contract with New Zealand Cricket in May 2021, ahead of the 2021–22 season. In the same month, he signed with Middlesex for the latter part of the 2021 T20 Blast. In February 2022, he was bought by the Rajasthan Royals in the auction for the 2022 Indian Premier League (IPL) tournament. In January 2023, Lancashire announced that Mitchell would play for the county in the County Championship and T20 Blast in the 2022–23 season.

Mitchell made his international debut in January 2019 when he was named in New Zealand's Twenty20 International (T20I) squad for their series against India. He made his T20I debut on 6 February 2019. In November 2019, he was added to New Zealand's Test squad for the second Test against England, making his Test debut on 29 November 2019.

In January 2021, Mitchell scored his first Test century with an unbeaten 102 runs against Pakistan in the second Test. He was named in New Zealand's One Day International (ODI) squad for their series against Bangladesh in March 2021, making his ODI debut on 20 March 2021. On 26 March 2021, Mitchell scored his first ODI century in the third match of the series against Bangladesh.

In August 2021, Mitchell was named in New Zealand's squad for the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup. He opened the batting with Martin Guptill throughout the tournament, a role he had not previously performed in T20 matches. Despite the initial plan to play as a finisher in the middle order, he adapted to the new role due to the late arrival of first-choice opener Tim Seifert. Mitchell scored 72 not out in the semi-final against England, helping New Zealand win by five wickets and earning the player of the match award. He ended the tournament with 208 runs in seven innings, averaging 34.66 with a strike rate of 140.54.

Mitchell had a successful Test tour of England in July 2022, scoring 538 runs with an average of 107.60 in the three-match series, although New Zealand was whitewashed 3–0. He scored three centuries in three consecutive matches, surpassing Martin Donnelly's record of 462 runs for the most runs by a New Zealand player in a Test series in England. Mitchell became the first New Zealand batsman to score centuries in three consecutive Test matches in England and only the sixth visiting batsman to achieve this. He also became the first batter to score hundreds in each game of an away series of three or more Tests. During the series, he and Tom Blundell set a New Zealand record with 611 partnership runs, the most by a New Zealand pair in a Test series.

In September 2022, Mitchell was named in New Zealand's squad for the 2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup.

In September 2023, Mitchell was included in New Zealand's 15-member squad for the 50-over World Cup in India. He played a significant role in the semi-final against India, scoring 134 off 119 balls, though New Zealand did not win the match.

Mitchell was awarded the ICC Spirit of Cricket Award in 2021 for deciding not to run for a single after realizing he had obstructed English bowler Adil Rashid during the semi-final of the 2021 ICC T20 World Cup. He was nominated for the ICC Player of the Month in June 2022, along with Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root.

Advertisement

Related Stories