England all-rounder Ben Stokes talked about “relief” and “happiness” after leading his team to victory in the second game. Meanwhile, England beat host New Zealand by six wickets to level the series at 1-1.
England banked on Stokes all-round show to level the series with three matches to go. Bowling first, England bowled out the Kiwis for a mere 223 following some clinical bowling by England bowlers. However, Stokes stole the show with two wickets and two runs-outs.
In reply, England once again banked on Stokes’ unbeaten 63 to come back from behind and level the series. Skipper Eoin Morgan also contributed significantly with a timely knock of 62.
Later, Stokes received the man-of-the-match award in his second game after returning to the England set-up.
It was satisfying to me:
Stokes, who last played for England in September said it was a satisfying return. Further, he talked about his feelings coming back to the national set-up.
“It was very satisfying for me,” Stokes said. “I was quite emotional walking off there at the end. Even walking on the field for the first time and walking off tonight made me understand how much of a privilege it is to represent your country.
“There was relief, happiness and obviously it’s been a long time. Hopefully, now this is a stepping stone on the road to trying to keep on helping England win games. We’ve got a massive summer ahead and the World Cup coming up after that as well, so hopefully this is just the start of it,” Stokes added.
Further, he also talked about the hard work he had put in during this period.
No time looking back:
Watching the Ashes from far was particularly hard for Stokes, especially, as England were beaten 4-0 by Australia. However, as of now, there is no looking back.
“I’ve been following all the cricket that all the lads have been playing but what I have to do now is focus on going forward,” he said. “It was obviously frustrating to watch the Ashes. I went through all the emotions as I would have done playing but there’s not a lot I can change about that now. I want to contribute every time I play for England and as I said we’ve got a massive summer coming up and loads of cricket to play in the future. I just want to contribute towards that,” Stokes added.
Meanwhile, both the teams will face each other on March 3 for the third game of the series in Wellington.
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