Black Caps score series victory with 160-run win over England in third test at Trent Bridge
Tuesday, 30 June 2026
Third test, Trent Bridge: New Zealand 438 and 288-9 declared beat England 354 and 212 (Jamie Smith 60; Zak Foulkes 3-52) by 160 runs. Full scoreboard
A celebration at a Nottingham nightclub, maybe? Not really the Black Caps style.
The quiet achievers of world cricket likely had ‘a few quiets’ in their Trent Bridge changing room instead after becoming the first team in test history to come from behind to win a three-match series in England.
New Zealand won the third and final test of the series by 160 runs overnight (NZ time), bowling England out for 212 in their pursuit of 373, to give them just their second series win over the hosts in a series of three or more tests since a 2-1 triumph from four tests in 1999.
Black Caps skipper Tom Latham unsurprisingly described it as “a fantastic series”.
“Being on the back foot after Lord’s, to come to The Oval, play a style that is a little bit unique in this day and age of cricket - to play a little bit more old school, and again, do that same thing here - it’s obviously really pleasing.
“It’s been a squad effort throughout the last three games, through injury, injuries during the game, concussions, all that sort of thing.
“And I guess a lot of New Zealand teams have come here over the past and haven't necessarily been able to be in this position.
“So, certainly very proud of the efforts that the guys have put in over the last three or four weeks to be in this position. Yeah, we'll enjoy this one.”
England resumed on the final day of the test and the series still needing another 270 runs to win, with only six second-innings wickets available to them.
Any thoughts of the home crowd, enjoying free entry at Trent Bridge, being firstly entertained and then amazed by a miraculous revival were skittled by overnight batters Emilio Gay and Joe Root being dismissed within 21 balls.
Gay, in his debut test series, was batting at No.6 after Ben Stokes promoted himself as opener shortly after his retirement from international cricket was announced on day four.
Root, who climbed to second spot on the list of top runscorers in test history during NZ’s win in the second test, was run out by a staggering - literally - piece of fielding by Henry Nicholls.
Back in the XI following Kane Williamson’s retirement after the first-test defeat at Lord’s, Nicholls slid to his knees as Jamie Smith and Root chased a quick single, threw as he was falling backwards from an angle which left little more than a stump to aim at, and hit it with the accuracy Robin Hood did in Nottingham folklore.
New Zealand again only got the services of pace bowler Will O’Rourke briefly. After a bloody finger resulting from a ferocious Stokes drive forced him to leave the field late on the previous day, the right-armer walked off the field during his fourth over of the day, seemingly due to a tight left hamstring.
But left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner, in his sole test of the series, took two wickets and matched Nicholls with another sensational run-out to hasten the end.
After losing the opening test on a poor Lord’s wicket which gave all the batters headaches for the short duration, the Rob Walter-coached side finally found the solutions to the problems England have caused them in tests since Brendon McCullum became their coach in 2022.
They did so by playing disciplined, accurate, determined cricket - with improved catching after a large dose of the dropsies at Lord’s - as England self-imploded.
A visit to a nightclub by Stokes and team-mate Gus Atkinson following their first-test victory rapidly reignited the torches and sharpened the pitchforks which had barely been stored away in the garden shed of critics and fans alike following England being badly burnt by Australia in the Ashes last summer.
On a fine batting wicket at The Oval, New Zealand mostly dictated terms and did so again in the decider.
Latham having good fortune with the coin toss on the opening morning of the decider was a contributing factor in New Zealand maintaining that upper hand.
But the skipper and opening partner Devon Conway still made that count massively with a triple-century opening stand, and when the hosts fought back on day two, Latham and his charges refused to bow as they had previously in recent test encounters between the two sides.
Daryl Mitchell and Rachin Ravindra then embraced their contrasting styles to keep NZ in front, before Stokes stole the spotlight on the penultimate day.
Yet Nathan Smith and Zak Foulkes took five wickets between them in England’s second innings and emphasised the admirable depth NZ now has in their quick-bowling stocks, as Matt Henry and Kyle Jamieson weren’t available for selection in Nottingham.
The 2-1 series success also bolstered NZ’s standing on the World Test Championship ladder, and whetted the appetite for the series to come this year at home against India and away to Australia.