England captain Ben Stokes enforced follow-on on New Zealand on the third day of the second Test match at the Basin Reserve today. Not giving up without a fight, New Zealand seems to be in the middle of their best batting performance of the series in their last innings.
Advertisement
Although Stokes had the option of providing rest to his bowlers on the back of not enforcing the follow-on, he decided against handing his batters another opportunity of batting aggressively because of his desire to push for a victory on the same day.
Furthermore, a 226-run first innings lead and English bowlers bowling only 53.2 overs in the first innings could’ve been the other reasons why Stokes didn’t enforce the follow-on.
New Zealand, who scored 202/3 in 83 overs at Stumps, Day 3, are still trailing by 24 runs but one has got to appreciate them for trying to play according to their potential unlike their performances of late. Taking into consideration how the home team has batted in this two-match series, them losing or being on the brink of losing on Sunday wouldn’t have been surprising by any means.
Can you bat after a follow on in Test matches?
Follow-on, which is also denoted by its informal abbreviation “F/o” by some channels/websites, is a cricketing law which is only applicable for Test cricket. Whenever a team attains a first-innings lead of at least 200 runs, it stands to be in a position where its captain has the authority to enforce a follow-on (ask the opposition to bat again) or not (bat themselves as per the usual norm).
Hence, any team which is at the receiving end of a follow-on, can bat again but that decision is not theirs. Click here to read more about follow-on rules in Test cricket.
Can England whitewash New Zealand?
Yes, absolutely. England are still clear favourites in this match. Having already whitewashed the BlackCaps thrice in this format since the start of this century, England can surely whitewash them for the first time away from home since 1963.
ALSO WATCH: Joe Root’s Celebrappeal video on Day 3
For that to happen, England will have to pick early wickets on Day 4. In what is an ideal-case scenario, England encompass enough batting muscle to chase down even a respectable fourth-innings target.
“This wicket has done plenty in the morning sessions. So, hopefully, tomorrow morning we can come out with a fresh pair of legs and take the [remaining] wickets,” former England captain and current Test assistant coach Paul Collingwood told BT Sport at the end of day’s play in Wellington.
With there being only three instances (across 2,493 Tests) of teams ending up on the winning side after being enforced a follow-on, the odds are against the hosts to a supremely large extent. It is worth a mention that New Zealand will really have to do the hard yards even to ensure a draw against this England team.
