BIRMINGHAM: New Zealand crushed hosts England by eight wickets in the second and final Test on Sunday to seal a 1-0 series win after chasing down a target of 38 runs on the fourth day at Edgbaston.

The result meant New Zealand, who thoroughly outplayed the hosts in the match, secured a first Test series win in England since 1999 and only their third overall in the country.

England had been reduced to 122-9 at stumps on day three with a slender lead of 37 runs and Olly Stone was caught behind off Trent Boult on the first ball of the day on Sunday, leaving the visitors on the verge of a famous victory.

New Zealand lost Devon Conway for three after the opening batsman fished at a Stuart Broad delivery only to edge it to James Bracey before Will Young (8) played a ball on to his stumps off Stone to leave the visitors at 33-2.

But stand-in skipper Tom Latham (23 not out), who went past 4,000 runs in Test cricket during his knock, and Ross Taylor (0) guided them to 41-2 in 10.5 overs.

Latham praised the squad’s depth after they came into the contest having made six changes from the drawn first Test at Lord’s.

“It’s great to have that performance under the belt. We were outstanding over the four days, everyone who came in did their roles,” Latham said. ““It’s fantastic for the depth of New Zealand cricket. Will Young, Matt Henry haven’t had much opportunity but the way they stood up was outstanding. England have a fantastic bowling attack and we played them really well. We adapted well and put good numbers on the board.”

England skipper Joe Root said his team had ‘massively underperformed’.

“It hasn’t been our best week, has it? Credit

to New Zealand they have outperformed

us throughout the game,” Root said. “It’s a

tough one to take because at the start of the week I thoroughly thought we could come here and win the series, but in all departments we could

have been a little bit better if we’re being brutally honest.”

New Zealand will enjoy an extra day’s rest before they take on India in the ICC World Test Championship Final starting in Southampton on Friday.

Scoreboard

ENGLAND (1st Innings) 303 (D.W. Lawrence 81 not out, R.J. Burns 81, M.A. Wood 41; T.A. Boult 4-85, M.J. Henry 3-78).

NEW ZEALAND (1st Innings) 388 (W.A. Young 82, D.P. Conway 80, L.R.P.L. Taylor 80; S.C.J. Broad 4-48).

ENGLAND (2nd Innings, overnight 122-9):

R.J. Burns c Latham b Henry 0

D.P. Sibley c Mitchell b Henry 8

Z. Crawley lbw b Henry 17

J.E. Root c Blundell b Patel 11

O.J.D. Pope lbw b Wagner 23

D.W. Lawrence c Blundell b Wagner 0

J.P. Bracey b Patel 8

O.P. Stone c Blundell b Wagner 15

M.A. Wood c Blundell b Wagner 29

S.C.J. Broad b Boult 1

J.M. Anderson not out 0

EXTRAS (B-5, LB-4, NB-1) 10

TOTAL (all out, 41.1 overs) 122

FALL OF WKTS: 1-0, 2-17, 3-30, 4-58, 5-58, 6-71, 7-76, 8-120, 9-121.

BOWLING: Henry 12-2-36-3; Boult 10.1-2-34-2; Wagner

10-1-18-3 (1nb); Patel 9-4-25-2.

NEW ZEALAND (2nd Innings):

T.W.M. Latham not out 23

D.P. Conway c Bracey b Broad 3

W.A. Young b Stone 8

L.R.P.L. Taylor not out 0

EXTRAS (B-4, W-1, NB-2) 7

TOTAL (for two wkts, 10.5 overs) 41

FALL OF WKTS: 1-6, 2-33.

BOWLING: Anderson 5-1-11-0 (1nb); Broad 4-1-13-1 (1nb, 1w); Stone 1-0-5-1; Wood 0.5-0-8-0.

RESULT: New Zealand won by eight wickets to win

two-match series 1-0.

UMPIRES: R.A. Kettleborough (England) and R.A. Illingworth (England.

TV UMPIRE: M.A. Gough (England).

MATCH REFEREE: B.C. Broad (England).

PLAYER-OF-THE-MATCH: Matt Henry.

ENGLAND PLAYER-OF-THE-SERIES: Rory Burns.

NEW ZEALAND PLAYER-OF-THE-SERIES: Devon Conway.

FIRST TEST: Lord’s, match drawn.

Published in Dawn, June 14th, 2021