Power-packed New Zealand trounce England at home, win first Test series since 1999

New Zealand made a light work of the only remaining wicket of England and the chase early on the fourth day to clinch the second Test and with that their first series win in the country after 1986. 

In the most fitting manner, New Zealand stand-in captain Tom Latham nudged a delivery from Stuart Broad to the off side and got deep into the silent euphoria of a big series win. 

The win must have been special for the Blackcaps as they have found it extremely tough to defeat England in their own backyard but the tide seems to be turning in the recent years as they have won the last two series between the side. 

The win would have been special for Latham as well, who was asked to lead a New Zealand side that made six changes from the last game including the prominent names in Kane Williamson, BJ Watling, Tim Southee and Kyle Jamieson missing out.

Only a magical performance from either Olly Stone or James Anderson could have provided England with some sort of a fighting chance but Trent Boult was in no mood to let the hosts go off the hook. Stone could not drag his bat away from an outgoing delivery and Tom Blundell did the rest.

From the England side, Rory Burns was the lone bright spot and was rightly adjudged Man of the Series by the New Zealand coach Gary Stead while from New Zealand, Devon Conway won the Man of the Series award on the basis of the sheer weight of runs and the impact it had on the outcome of the series.

England have been left with too many questions to answer after their first series loss at home since 2014 and Joe Root would be feeling serious pressure after a repetitive episode of batting failures. He conceded the Blackcaps outplayed his side throughout the second Test of the series.