New Zealand’s Mitchell Santner (centre) is congratulated after working out England’s Josh Tongue on the fifth day of their third Check at Trent Bridge in Nottingham, June 29, 2026. — AFPNew Zealand beat England by 160 runs in third Check.Defeat marks England’s seventh defeat in 9 Assessments.New Zealand’s Daryl Mitchell named participant of the match.
An injury-hit New Zealand overwhelmed England by 160 runs within the third Check at Trent Bridge on Monday as Ben Stokes’s final match in worldwide cricket ended with a thumping defeat.
Victory meant New Zealand gained a three-match marketing campaign 2-1 — simply their fourth sequence success in England in 20 makes an attempt and solely the second time that they had triumphed after being 1-0 down following their 1999 success in England.
This was additionally England’s seventh defeat in 9 Assessments and a primary sequence loss at house in three or extra Assessments since 2012.
The Check was upstaged by England captain Stokes dramatically asserting his retirement from worldwide responsibility on Sunday.
The 35-year-old all-rounder stated he felt “burnt out” after 4 years as England skipper, though Stokes added he would proceed to play for county aspect Durham.
His determination got here after he had returned to England motion after being omitted from a crushing 253-run defeat within the second Check, having damaged a midnight curfew following the hosts’ win within the sequence opener.
‘Feelings’
“It would have been great to go out with a series win, that’s in a perfect world,” Stokes advised the BBC. “But I’m very happy with what I’ve managed to achieve as a player and a captain.
“There’s fairly just a few feelings figuring out you are not going to be doing this anymore.”
New Zealand’s win was just reward for their professional application, the Black Caps outplaying England in all departments in Nottingham.
Their approach was summed up by Daryl Mitchell, named player of the match, for a gutsy second-innings 100 not out where he was repeatedly struck painful blows by England’s pace attack.
“That is very particular for our group,” said Mitchell. “We came to visit with the purpose of successful the sequence. It is actually cool.”
Stokes opened England’s run-chase even though he is normally a middle-order batsman, with the hosts set a stiff target of 373 to win.
He blazed his way to 30 off 20 balls, including two sixes, before he holed out, with his exit meaning he had no on-field role on Monday, his last day in international cricket.
England had dramatically chased down a target of 299 to beat New Zealand at Trent Bridge four years ago, right at the start of the team’s aggressive ‘Bazball’ era under Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum with Jonny Bairstow scoring a blistering century.
But the current New Zealand attack held their nerve, with England losing three more wickets before Sunday’s close to be in dire straits at 103-4.
And they were in even worse trouble at 116-6 after losing two wickets in five balls early in Monday’s play.
Nathan Smith had Emilio Gay caught behind for 10 and then Joe Root, one of England’s greatest batsmen, was superbly run out for 18 by Henry Nicholls’s brilliant direct hit from backward point.
New Zealand lost a bowler just 35 minutes into Monday’s play when Will O’Rourke suffered a hamstring injury.
Gus Atkinson, also back after breaking curfew alongside Stokes, and Jamie Smith kept New Zealand at bay with a stand of 75 before Atkinson was lbw for 19 to left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner.
Jamie Smith went to a fifty when he punched Santner for four after lunch.
But another excellent direct hit run-out did for tailender Josh Tongue, with Santner on target this time, before Jamie Smith (60) was caught in the deep by Nathan Smith to seal a well-deserved success for the Black Caps.
“We put lots of work in on our fielding, the 2 run-outs right this moment confirmed guys are engaged and displaying the whole lot they have,” stated Mitchell.
This match was a triumph for a number of New Zealand gamers, with captain Tom Latham (151) and Devon Conway (157) sharing a gap stand of 317 in a first-innings complete of 438.
New Zealand got here into this match with out injured paceman Matt Henry, their 11-wicket hero on the Oval, and in-form towering fast Kyle Jamieson, rested as a health precaution.
And in Nottingham, Blair Tickner might solely handle three overs earlier than pulling out with concussion suffered when hit by a Jofra Archer bouncer when batting.
However Zak Foulkes, New Zealand’s first concussion substitute, carried out fantastically to take six wickets within the match.
