England’s hopes of ending Ben Stokes’ captaincy on a winning note faded on the fifth morning at Trent Bridge as New Zealand completed a 160-run victory to win the three-match Test series 2-1.The visitors also registered only their fourth Test series win in England, adding to their tally of 1986, 1999 and a two-match series win in 2021.England were hoping for Joe Root and Emilio Gay at the start of the day, but both departed in the fourth over of the day. Gay was behind for 10 while Root was bowled out for 18 by a sharp shot from Henry Nicholls. Around the pitch, boundary boards displayed the message, “Thank you Ben Stokes”, as the England captain looked on from the dressing room after being dismissed on 30 on the fourth night.Jamie Smith and Gus Atkinson delayed the New Zealand attack with a seventh-ball 75-run stand. Atkinson made 19 before being trapped lbw by Mitchell Santner just before lunch.Smith continued to fight after the break but his innings ended on 60 when Nathan Smith took a bounce at long-on off Santner’s bowling. The dismissal effectively ended England’s resistance and sealed victory for the visitors.Nathan Smith ended the series as New Zealand’s leading wicket-taker with 15 wickets. He was the only member of New Zealand’s pace attack to feature in every game of the series.“It would be great to go out with a series win and a win,” Stokes said, “but that’s in a perfect world, and this world certainly isn’t perfect.”Four years ago, on this very ground, the Stokes-McCullum partnership started chasing 299 against New Zealand. That victory became the opening chapter of what the cricketing world called Bazball. It promised fearless cricket and a team willing to risk defeat in search of victory.On Monday, New Zealand walked away with the series. A team that was down 3-0 at the start of the baseball era returned to Trent Bridge and closed out the series with a 2-1 victory.The defeat also marked England’s first home defeat of three or more Tests since 2012. They have now lost seven of their last nine Test matches, increasing the focus on coach Brendon McCullum and managing director Rob Key.
