Wellington, Feb 26: Tim Southee sounded the rallying cry and Tom Latham and Devon Conway answered the call as New Zealand fought back after following on Sunday on the third day of the second Test against England.
New Zealand trailed by 226 on the first innings and by stumps was 202/3, only 24 runs in deficit. At the close, Kane Williamson was 25 and Henry Nicholls 18, having seen New Zealand through most of the last session.
Southee battered 73 runs from 49 balls with five fours and six sixes in the morning to show the first spark of defiance before New Zealand was dismissed for 209 in its first innings in reply to England’s 435/8.
Latham and Conway then combined in a 149-run opening partnership which wiped out all but 77 runs of the deficit.
Stokes may be taken to task for enforcing the follow-on, a tactic that is increasingly rare in cricket. His bowlers already had bowled 53.2 overs in the New Zealand first innings in which the England quicks James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Ollie Robinson had shared 36.2 overs.
But Stokes likely had no other choice on a pitch which has lost most of its sting and likely will be ideal for batting on the final day.
The English bowlers, Broad especially, frequently beat the bat in the early stages of the New Zealand second innings. But Latham and Conway showed application which has been missing from the Kiwis. (AP)
