Despite a valiant half-century from wicketkeeper Jamie Smith, who scored 60 off 91, England’s resistance collapsed before tea in Ben Stokes’ final Test match as England’s captain
Published: June 29, 2026, 11:00 PM IST
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Tom Latham, Nathan Smith and Devon Conway celebrate after New Zealand’s historic 2-1 Test series win against England. (Credits: X/Blackcaps)
Tom Latham’s New Zealand has become the first team in history to come from behind and register a Test series win in England as the Blackcaps wrapped up the 3-match series with a historic 2-1 margin after beating the Three Lions on day 5 of the decisive 3rd Test in Manchester.
New Zealand bowled England out for 212 and secured a comprehensive 160-run win. The hosts started the final day trying to pull off a massive 2nd innings chase of 373 runs but the Black Caps’ bowling unit had other plans.
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Mitchell Santner and young pacer Zakary Foulkes ripped through the middle and lower order, making regular breakthroughs to decline all hopes of an English fightback. Nathan Smith also provided crucial support with his tight lines to build pressure.
Despite a valiant half-century from wicketkeeper Jamie Smith, who scored 60 off 91, England’s resistance collapsed before tea. The final wickets fell in quick succession in the 3rd session as the visitors dominated the proceedings throughout to seal a rare and famous series win on English soil.
How New Zealand won the 3rd Test?
After winning the toss and opting to bat, the visitors piled on a massive 438 runs, driven by magnificent centuries from openers Tom Latham (151) and Devon Conway (157). England responded with 354, anchored by Ben Duckett’s brilliant 113 and a quick-fire 74 from Jacob Bethell, while Nathan Smith took four wickets.
Holding a 84-run lead, New Zealand pushed their advantage by declaring their second innings at 288/9. Daryl Mitchell led the charge with a spectacular 100 while Rachin Ravindra chipped in with a crucial 94.
The Kiwis had set up a daunting target of 373 on a wearing pitch and England’s response did not start off well. Notably, the hosts had made several changes in their batting line-up by introducing Emilio Gay in place of Zak Crawley and Ollie Pope but that didn’t work out well.
Except Jamie Smith’s half-century, no England batter showed real intent despite some batters starting off on a high. Ben Duckett and Ben Stokes had scores of 30s, Jacob Bethell got out for a duck whereas the middle-order, comprising of Harry Brook, Joe Root and Emilio Gay, had ordinary outings.
The English unit was eventually bowled out for 212 with Daryl Mitchell becoming the player of the match. The player of the series award was shared between two pacers – Jofra Archer of England and Nathan Smith of New Zealand.
Bitter exit for Ben Stokes
This historic defeat also marked the final chapter of Ben Stokes’ remarkable international career as the England captain officially retired from international cricket. Stokes leaves the game as one of his country’s greatest-ever all-rounders, finishing with 6,508 runs as a batter, including 13 centuries.
As a leader, he was responsible for transforming England’s approach to the red-ball format alongside coach Brendon McCullum. Ben Stokes led his nation in 40 Test matches, guiding them to 22 wins, 15 losses, and 3 draws. He retires with a commendable win-loss ratio of 1.46. He had already retired from the white-ball formats to focus on the red-ball format but that has come to an end as well.
New Zealand climb to 3rd in WTC 2025-27 points table
The 2-1 series win helped New Zealand climb 3rd in the ICC World Test Championship 2025-27 points table with a percentile of 72.22. Above them are Australia (1st) and reigning champions South Africa (2nd) with 87.50 and 75 percentiles each.
New Zealand’s next Test series, a 2-match home series against India, will take place in November whereas England will welcome Pakistan for a 3-match Test series, starting next month.
