ENG vs NZ

Big celebrations in the New Zealand camp as the players get their medals, the Crowe-Thorpe Trophy is now theirs and they can afford to have a blast. Champagne all around, the Kiwis are loving their moment in the sun after putting in the hard yards

India? Tick. England? Tick. Australia? Next for Tom Latham's men as they will visit their neighbors towards the end of the year to have a shot at creating more history after hosting India and that series already seems mouth-watering. For now, they can soak this one all in

What about England though? Their next Test series is at home again, in August against Pakistan and England will have a new leader in their next series with the red ball. Who will it be? Only they would know. There is the small matter of a full-fledged white-ball series against India starting right after a day's gap, for which Brook is the designated captain

We have seen two great careers come to an end with this series, and the two retirements could not have been more contrasting much like the careers themselves. While Kane Willamson stepped away into the dark silenty after the Lord's Test match, Stokes' certainly had much more theatrics, drama and everything else. To each their own, as they say

Time for us to reitre now, for the day. It has been a pleasure briniging you all the action. This is Sourabh Agrawal signing off on behalf of Pradeep, Bidipto, Datrim and the rest of the team. Ciao!

Time to hear from the winning skipper, Tom Latham who now has away Test series wins in India and England, not too many can boast of that record. Here are his words: (what does the win mean?) Really special moment. When you set out at the start of the series, this is what you work towards. For me, the most special thing is that it has been a complete squad effort. It has been a bit of old-school cricket, that suits us but to be standing here makes me really proud.

(making a comeback after Lord's) Think we did a lot of good things at Lord's. It was a tricky surface. Things would have been different in different situations. I guess we were able to come in at The Oval and play our brand of cricket. Different guys put their hands up at different times, and when you want to look back after games you want to be able to win those key moments and we managed to win those key moments. Different guys stood up in different moments, as I said, and we played our style in the best way possible

(thoughts on the key moments in this Test) We started really well on Day 1, it was a really important partnership at the top. Would have liked to kick on. The wickets that we got at the start of Day 3, four or fivwe wickets there were very important. And then we were put under pressure in the third innings, for Daryl and Rachin to see the day through. Daryl is the man we turn to when there is a bit of a chaos, he loved being out there. (holding his nerves as a captain) To get those 4 wickets last night was important. We knew we had a lot of hard work to do this morning as well, again a couple of key moments with those couple of run outs

(says he wants to give a message to Ben Stokes) On behalf of the New Zealand cricket team, want to congratulate you on a fantastic career. Been a privilege to play against you all this years. Congratulations on your fantastic career

Ben Stokes [England captain]: [On his farewell Test and New Zealand's performance] "It's been a special couple of days with all the support I've received. Obviously, I wish the result had been different, but it was an incredibly hard-fought Test. The conditions changed every day, and that's one of the great things about Test cricket—you constantly have to adapt. Full credit to New Zealand. They were outstanding, especially Daryl Mitchell, who played a huge role in putting them in a commanding position. Chasing that target was always going to be difficult. If I could change one thing, it would be the result, but that's sport. I wouldn't have wanted my final Test to end any other way than fighting until the very end." [On his decision to retire] "I explained as much as I could yesterday, and I just hope people respect that this was my decision. It wasn't rushed or taken lightly. I spoke to people I trust, thought about it carefully, and even through this week I kept asking myself if I could carry on beyond this Test. In the end, it wasn't meant to be. I'm incredibly proud of everything I've achieved in my career. It's emotional because there are things I'll miss, but there are also things I won't. More than anything, I'm grateful if I've been able to bring some happiness to the fans who've supported me all over the world." [On announcing his retirement during the Test] "I told a few close teammates the night before and informed the rest of the squad that morning. After that, I left it to the management and the broadcasters to decide how it would be handled because I had a Test match to focus on. Looking back, it's quite fitting that I took a wicket straight after the news became public. The last couple of weeks have certainly been eventful, and there was a bit of controversy along the way, but that's probably summed up my career at times—never quite straightforward. Even so, I've loved every moment of representing England." [On the memories he'll cherish] "When I look back, I won't just think about my own performances. I'll think about the privilege of sharing a dressing room with some of England's greatest players and witnessing incredible moments firsthand. Watching Joe Root, Stuart Broad, James Anderson, Alastair Cook and so many others achieve remarkable things has been just as special. I've also been fortunate to play against some of the best cricketers in the world. It's been an incredible journey, and one I'll always remember with immense pride."

Nathan Smith is the New Zealand Player of the Series for his 16 wickets in 3 games, most in this series for any bowler. This is what he had to say: It is always nice to have the ball in the hand when you have a Test match to win, really pleased. I pride myself on being able to adapt, from the new ball to the old ball. Bit of a shame that we were struck by injuries but it shows the strength of our squad calling in guys from the sidelines who did the job for us. In England, the ball does tend to get soft, we have to bring the stumps in play. The talk was about being ruthless with lines and lengths and Blundell really changed it coming up to the stumps. (was the decision to make Blundell stand up to the pacers discussed beforehand?) It was not discussed before, on the fly. (his experience of playing county cricket in England) When the ball is doing something, you know what to do but when it gets soft you can call on those experiences. Certainly something I would like to do in the future as well (playing county cricket)

Jofra Archer is the Player of the Series for England with 11 wickets! Here's what he has to say: [On his return to Test cricket] "It's been really special. I've put in a huge amount of work to get back here, so it's rewarding to see that effort pay off. But it's not just about me—everyone behind the scenes and all the lads have played a part in this journey. This achievement belongs to them as much as it does to me." [On the challenge of switching from T20s to Tests] "The biggest adjustment is the mindset. You're going to have aches and pains, but you have to push through because the other guys are working just as hard. You don't want to let anyone down. You also have to make sure you're fit because if one fast bowler goes down, it increases the workload on the others. Staying mentally switched on is just as important. In T20 cricket you're out there for 20 overs, but in Tests you can spend a day and a half in the field, so concentration is everything." [On backing up across consecutive Tests] "I never had any doubts. I believed I could do it." [On Ben Stokes' retirement] "It's not just England losing a captain—I'm losing a friend. No matter where we are, we can always pick up the phone and talk. He's going to be a massive miss." [On playing under Stokes] "The hardest part will be walking into the dressing room without him. Every game I've played, he's been there alongside Rooty. It'll take some getting used to because we've shared so many moments together. We don't have a choice now, but it's definitely going to feel different."

Daryl Mitchell is the Player of the Match! Here's what he has to say: [On the series victory] "This is incredibly special for our group. We came here with the goal of winning the series and doing it in a way that stayed true to who we are as a team. To achieve that makes this one of the most satisfying moments of my career." [On his match-winning century] "There was probably a bit of unfinished business after what happened here on the last tour. To contribute with a hundred this time and end up on the winning side makes it even more rewarding. I'm just really proud that every member of this squad stepped up at different stages across the three Tests. " [On bouncing back after the first Test] "I was really pleased with how calm we remained after losing the first Test. We analysed what went wrong, moved on quickly and got back to doing what we do best. Every surface demanded different skills and different mindsets, and I thought we adapted brilliantly throughout the series." [On batting through pain and building partnerships] "For us, it was all about building partnerships. Rachin came out and played with the freedom and skill that he has, which allowed me to settle into my own game. After that, even the lower order chipped in, and those partnerships helped us post a total we believed our bowlers could defend." [On New Zealand's fielding effort] "We've put a lot of work into our fielding. Some days things go your way and some days they don't, but the two run-outs today showed how switched on everyone was. The commitment and energy in the field reflected the character of this team."

2:13 PM local time, 6:43 PM IST: MATCH SUMMARY

New Zealand (438 & 288/9 dec) beat England (354 & 212) win by 160 runs and take the 3-match series 2-1

Devon Conway 157(224), Tom Latham 151(214), Daryl Mitchell 100*(241) | Natham Smith 4/91 & 2/64, Zakary Foulkes 3/35 & 3/52
Ben Duckett 113(99) & 36(42) | Jofra Archer 2/75 & 4/53, Ben Stokes 4/70 & 2/49

Life comes a full circle they say, BAZBALL HAS COME A FULL CIRCLE TOO! It was June 2022 when Ben Stokes & Baz McCullum's chargers announced their gung-ho brand against the Kiwis at this very ground in Nottingham and it got the whole cricketing world taking. Cut to four years later, New Zealand have returned the favor handing them a series loss at the same venue and have taken the talismanic Christchurch-born Ben Stokes away putting an end to the regime

Tom Latham's men have done what has not happened in the last 14 years, have we heard this before? 2012 was the last time England lost a home Test series comprising 3 matches or more, 2012 was the last time India lost any Test series on home soil and both those streaks have been brought to an end by the "good men". Latham takes a stump with himself, how fitting is it that the match ends with a brilliant catch encapsulating New Zealand's brilliance in one piece of action

The headlines have been grabbed by Ben Stokes in the last 24 hours or so but in the most New Zealand(ish) way possible, the Kiwis have gone about their business and come out trumps at the end. They were marred by injuries, not only before this game but during it too. They lost their heroes from the last match, both Matt Henry and Glenn Phillips were sidelined with injuries after putting up a match-winning performance in the second test at The Oval. And then, Tickner was concussed in the middle of this match, Sears got a split finger, O'Rourke's finger was damaged too and he eventually walked off with a left hamstring issue but despite all that New Zealand have done the job

Zakary Foulkes came in as the concussion sub, he got 6 wickets in the match and so did Nathan Smith who ends up as the highest-wicket taker of the series with 16 wickets in 3 games. How many would have predicted that four weeks ago?

A couple of cracking run-outs on the final day of the series, bullseyes from Nicholls and Santner when they were needed acted as the cherry on the top of the cake.

150s from Tom Latham and Devon Conway enroute a 317-run opening stand on the first day, it seems like that was ages ago. It set it up for the Black Caps, they made England toil hard in the scorching heat even though they did not go on to maximize the advantage after that opening stand. Ben Duckett scored a cracking Duckett-style century in response but New Zealand managed to get an 84-run lead in the first innings

And then the all-important third innings. Both the Kiwi openers this time departed cheaply as Archer snapped them up but then it was the turn of Rachin Ravindra and Daryl Mitchell. Ravindra fell six short of a deserving hundred but it was a Test ton of the highest order from Mitchell who copped numerous blows on his body on a wearing pitch but made sure that New Zealand got enough of a lead to then declare and hand England a massive target of 373

The fourth innings had the imprints of Ben Stokes' all over it, Stokes opened the innings and came out all guns blazing in an attempt to go down fighting. However, that innings was short-lived as Stokes scored 30 off 20 in his last Test innings, the first few wickets fell cheaply in an attempt to "put pressure" on New Zealand with their unconventional batting. But, that was not going to be enough. Brook was sent ahead of Root, the opener Gay came in at number 6, all in the same attempt but it was like the last flicker of a melting candle

New Zealand's bowlers kept running in, the likes of Smith, Foulkes, and then Santner on a turning pitch made it very difficult for them as England eventually fell a long way short. Root's run out was the turning point this morning, Smith did get a fifty batting with the lower order but that was it. 1986, 1999, 2021 and now 2026, New Zealand have beaten England in England again and Tom Latham's men have added another feather on their caps

51.2 Mitchell Santner to Jamie Smith, OUT! NATHAN SMITH TAKES A STUNNER AND IT'S ALL OVER! New Zealand crush England and they take the series, 2-1! New Zealand conquer Trent Bridge! They wrap up a famous 2-1 series triumph, outclassing England in their own backyard to end the Ben Stokes era on a bittersweet note.

Flighted on a length on the off-stump, Smith presses to smoke this one out of the park, but doesn't get hold of it. Cries of catch it, Nathan Smith, highest wicket taker of the series, fittingly takes the catch as he runs in from long-on, dives full stretch and clings on.