"There was no doubt in Stokesy's mind" - Paul Collingwood on England enforcing follow-on on day 3 in Wellington
England assistant coach Paul Collingwood has said that Ben Stokes had no doubts about enforcing the follow-on on day three of the second Test against New Zealand in Wellington on Sunday (February 26). The former England all-rounder underlined that Stokes wanted to take the aggressive option and win the game on day three itself.
The Kiwis resumed day three on 138-7 and recovered well to manage 209. However, they still trailed England by 226, and the tourists decided to enfore the follow-on. The second innings saw the Kiwis fare much better, headlined by a 149-run opening stand between Devon Conway and Tom Latham.
England led by 24 by the close of play, with the Kiwis having seven wickets in the bank.
Following the day's play, Collingwood said that Stokes is adamant on following on if given the opportunity, as he prefers the aggressive route and is not scared to lose. As quoted by Sky Sports, the former player said:
"It was very clear this morning. Stokesy spoke to the guys and said 'if we get the chance to follow-on we're going to enforce it'. He was very clear on that and that's the approach of Stokesy and Baz. They want the aggressive option and hopefully to win the game today. It didn't turn out that way but we're still in a really good position."
"The mantra of this team is always to take the aggressive approach and there was no doubt in Stokesy's mind that if we got the opportunity that was the way he was going to. We've always said we're not scared of losing, but we want to get ourselves in a position of winning games and we felt we could have won, or got close to winning, today."
New Zealand captain Tim Southee top-scored for the home side in the first innings with a counter-attacking 73, while Latham has been for them in the second innings with 83.
"He will have to be careful if he goes to that plan again" - Paul Collingwood on Ben Stokes' short-ball plan
Reflecting on Stokes' plan to bowl short, Collingwood reckons the all-rounder has to be careful with that, given his long-standing knee injury. He added:
"Look, as we all know he's got a knee niggle, thankfully he's the captain out there and makes the decision when he bowls or doesn't bowl. Yes, he dropped it a little bit short on a couple of occasions, so that's his one warning there. He will have to be careful if he goes to that plan again."
The Kiwis will resume day four on 202-3, with Kane Williamson and Henry Nicholls in the middle.