England captain Ben Stokes during the fourth day of the third Test match between England and New Zealand at Trent Bridge in Nottingham, England on June 28, 2026. (Photo/Getty Images)

England’s hopes of a winning end to Ben Stokes’ captaincy were dashed on the fifth morning at Trent Bridge as New Zealand clinched the three-match Test series 2-1 with a 160-run victory.Chasing 373, England started the final day at 103 for 4, but were never able to build the partnership needed to threaten the target. They were out for 212 shortly after lunch, giving New Zealand their first win in the three-Test series after losing the opening match.The visiting team recorded only their fourth Test series win in England, adding to the tally of two-match series wins in 1986, 1999 and 2021.At the beginning of the day, England’s hopes rested on Joe Root and Emilio Gay, but both were out in the fourth over of the day. Gay was out on 10, while Root was run out on 18 by some sharp fielding by Henry Nicholls. Around the ground, boundary boards displayed the message, “Thank you Ben Stokes,” as the England captain watched from the dressing room after being dismissed for 30 on the evening of the fourth day.Jamie Smith and Gus Atkinson put on a 75-run partnership for the seventh wicket to delay the New Zealand attack. Atkinson scored 19 runs but was trapped LBW by Mitchell Santner just before lunch.Smith continued to fight after the intermission but his innings ended on 60 when Nathan Smith took a diving catch at long-on off Santner’s bowling. The dismissal effectively ended England’s resistance and sealed victory for the visitors.Nathan Smith finished 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 match of the series.“It would have been great to go out winning the series,” Stokes said, “but that’s in an ideal world and this world is certainly not perfect.”Four years ago, the Stokes-McCullum partnership started while chasing the target of 299 runs against New Zealand on this very ground. That victory became the opening chapter of what the cricket world came to call Buzzball. It promised fearless cricket and a team willing to risk defeat in the pursuit of victory.On Monday, New Zealand won the series. The team that had lost 3–0 at the birth of the baseball era returned to Trent Bridge to end it with a 2–1 series win.The defeat is England’s first home series defeat of three or more Test matches since 2012. They have now lost seven of their last nine Test matches, increasing the scrutiny on coach Brendon McCullum and managing director Rob Key.