England are on the verge of sealing another Test victory, their seventh on the trot, despite a valiant showing by the Kiwi batters in the second innings of the ongoing second Test in Wellington. Although Ben Stokes' side are quite ahead of their opponents, his decision to enforce the follow-on was questioned by a contingent of fans.
Former England all-rounder and current assistant coach of the Test team, Paul Collingwood, backed the decision of English skipper to invite the home side to bat again after bundling them out for 209 runs in the morning session of the third day. Collingwood revealed that Ben Stokes was always going to enforce the follow-on and it was the right decision too.
"We're ahead of the game. We felt as though we could cause a lot of problems, which we did, but we didn't get the rewards for it. There were a lot of great things from today. It's the aggressive approach and that's how we try to do things. It was very clear in Stokesy's mind when we turned up this morning that if we had the chance to enforce the follow-on we would be taking it. We never take a backward step," assistant coach Collingwood told BBC Sport.
We never restrict this team or think about how many is too many: Collingwood
Following a timid showing from the home side in their first innings, which was saved for a brief while thanks to a blistering knock by Tim Southee, the Kiwi batters displayed much better application in the second innings. New Zealand openers Devon Conway and Tom Latham thwarted the English pacers to great effect during their solid opening stand.
However, the post-tea session saw the home side lose three quick wickets to the England spinners. Collingwood reckons that his side are still ahead of the game and will be looking to take early wickets with the second new ball, which is just three overs old.
"We don't look at targets and we never restrict this team or think about how many is too many. We are in a very good position in this game. The morning sessions seem to be doing a lot more for the seam bowlers, so hopefully we can make serious inroads with the new ball tomorrow and have a total we can chase," Collingwood added.
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