Ben Duckett nudged Mitchell Santner into the leg side, called instantly for the run and let out a triumphant “Yes!” before he had even made his ground at the far end.
A century at Trent Bridge, with the sunshine beating down and the stands packed, was exactly what he needed — and precisely the lift England were searching for as they tried to wrestle control of a gripping third Test away from New Zealand.
By stumps on another scorching day beside the Trent, England had reached 223 for two, still 215 runs behind. Jacob Bethell, unbeaten on a polished 74, helped build on the momentum created by Ben Stokes’s stirring spell with the ball, while New Zealand were left to wonder how a commanding first-day position of 317 without loss had turned into something altogether more uncomfortable.
England still have plenty to do on a surface that has offered bowlers little more than frustration. Yet Duckett’s innings — his first Test hundred in 22 knocks and his first score above 50 in 15 — has restored belief that they can still depart Nottingham with the series victory that once appeared well within reach.
The match might have looked very different had Henry Nicholls held a straightforward chance at third slip when Duckett, on eight, pushed at Nathan Smith. Emilio Gay had been caught down the leg side off Will O’Rourke for a duck just five balls earlier, and that miss could have left England eight for two and still 430 runs in arrears.
Duckett made the most of that reprieve with the cheeky authority that has long defined his best batting. The very next ball was driven through the covers, and from there he found his rhythm: cutting square, pulling cleanly and sweeping whenever the chance came. Even with temperatures touching 36 degrees, he somehow managed to raise the intensity further.
Ben Duckett shows his emotion after bringing up a century at Trent Bridge on an excellent day for England
Ben Stokes shifted the momentum with an outstanding spell of bowling early on day three
New Zealand’s bowling, it’s true, has enjoyed better days. Matt Henry, top of the Test rankings after his 11 wickets at The Oval, is missing with a calf injury, and Ben Sears playing only his third Test.
Blair Tickner managed just three overs before going off with concussion, having been hit on the head while batting by Jofra Archer, and was replaced by Zak Foulkes, winning only his sixth cap. Santner, meanwhile, was bowling his left-arm spin with the red ball for the time since last August. His eight overs cost 55.
Even so, England were in a hole, the runs had to be scored, and Duckett needed them more than anyone.
Since his match-winning 149 against India at Headingley last summer, his greatest contribution to the headlines had been his drunken night out in Noosa as the Ashes tour unravelled. Now, having foregone an IPL deal with Delhi Capitals to focus on his Test spot, he repaid the faith, moving to his seventh Test hundred from just 88 balls.
Smith got him in the end for 113, inducing a loose drag-on as Duckett opened the face to a ball that cramped him for room, but not before he and Bethell – at last making a first-innings contribution – had put on a thrilling 179 at a run a ball.
Their partnership roused the crowd as much as Stokes’s bowling had before lunch, when England picked up where they had left off the night before. Wickets with the last two balls of Thursday evening had left New Zealand 361 for four, turning a potentially disastrous first day into a merely poor one, but Stokes is rarely better than when he spies a glimmer.
In eight wholehearted overs, he had Daryl Mitchell caught behind on review for 11, nightwatchman O’Rourke miscuing a heave to backward point for a career-best 19, and Santner caught in the gully off his wristband for four as he tried to fend off something short and nasty.
Shoaib Bashir, with his first Test wickets in almost a year, and Archer completed a collapse of 10 for 121, but it was Stokes who had banged down the door in a game that, as much as the Ashes misadventure, may end up defining his captaincy.
The wicket of Santner was his 250th, making him only the second Test all-rounder, after South Africa’s Jacques Kallis, to combine that landmark with 7,000 runs.
Stokes it was, who – at 5.23 on the first evening, with his team facing ridicule – had made England’s first breakthrough. And Stokes it was who set about ensuring New Zealand became only the third Test team to be bowled out after starting with a triple-century opening stand.
He may have spent the last fortnight and more driving the ECB to distraction, adding uncertainty and farce to England’s miserable winter. But he is simultaneously English cricket’s firestarter and its likeliest means of putting the fire out.
There were one or two at Lord’s who had hoped his late-night jaunt to the Rex Rooms might spell the beginning of the end of his England career. Yet the first two days in Nottingham have confirmed that while the Test team at times seem unable to live with him, they most certainly cannot live without him.
