England secure series win after Blundell's consolatory century

Joe Root scored his 36th Test century after which England needed a little over two sessions to wrap up the second Test. Chasing a target of 583, New Zealand suffered an early collapse and eventually folded for 280, thanks to a consolatory and entertaining century from Tom Blundell. England followed their eight-wicket win in Christchurch with a massive 323-run victory in Wellington to pocket the series 2-0 with a third Test to play.

Root carried on from an overnight tally of 73 and soon brought up his century - incredibly with a reverse ramp shot over the wicketkeeper for a four. England, who'd pushed their lead beyond 500 on Day 2, continued with their batting urgency to pile on quick runs. They batted just 6.3 overs and added 49 runs, which included Root's century - off 127 balls - and a stand worth 100 off 79 balls between him and Ben Stokes. The England captain declared as soon as Root fell, caught behind off William O'Rourke, to set New Zealand a daunting target of 583. The England bowlers then got stuck in right away.

Devon Conway's woeful run in the series ended with a duck, cleaned up by a length ball from Chris Woakes in the third over of the chase. On a gusty morning, England bowlers constantly troubled the batters and reaped instant rewards. Kane Williamson struggled against Woakes, getting beaten and unable to deal with the occasional excess bounce. Woakes got him to nick one to Ollie Pope in the seventh over to push New Zealand down to 25/2. That soon became 33/3 as Brydon Carse struck in his opening over - taking an excellent return catch to send Tom Latham packing.

Daryll Mitchell and Rachin Ravindra looked to settle the nerves before Lunch but Carse lured the latter to go after a ball outside the off-stump and edge it behind. Blundell led New Zealand's endeavour to fight back in the post-Lunch session, riding on the repreive offered to him while he was yet to open his account - dropped by Jacob Bethell at third slip. He and Mitchell arrested the slide for the first hour of the session, but right after drinks Gus Atkinson came back and had Mitchell edge behind where Pope pouched his third catch of the innings.

New Zealand were five down and had Blundell and Glenn Phillips throw their bats around for some quick runs but that came with an inherent risk of another breakthrough. Shoaib Bashir got it, sending Phillips back after the latter had carted the spinner for a four and a six in the same over. Bashir responded to the onslaught by going fuller and quicker, getting the ball to sneak through and disturb the stumps. From 141/6 began a show of defiance with a 97-run partnership between Blundell and Nathan Smith that stretched into the final session.

Blundell's half-century came off 56 balls as his defiance against England came with aggression. Nathan Smith arrived and matched him for the carnage to give the partisan crowd something to cheer. Blundell even dispatched a delivery from Bashir out of the ground for a six. The pair added a breezy 50-run stand and took their side to the Tea break on 199/6.

They stuck to the same tone when play resumed as Blundell gave Bashir the charge to hit another six. As he moved to 99, Ben Stokes put catchers around the bat to eke out an error. Blundell grew a touch cautious but got to his century off an inside edge, much to the delight of his home crowd who'd seen him make a name for himself with a debut ton in 2017. Despite all the risks he took, it took a moment of cheeky genius from Ben Duckett at first slip to dismiss him. As Blundell got into position to play a paddle sweep after fine leg was taken out, Duckett ran across from first slip in anticipation and took the catch after juggling the ball once.

Ben Stokes then brought himself on to wipe out the tail all by himself. Matt Henry fell for a short ball, pulling it towards deep square leg where Bethell completed a good catch on the edge of the boundary. Nathan Smith became a victim of Stokes' short ball too, getting caught behind down the leg side. Tim Southee, who had walked out for the last time at Basin Reserve to a rousing applause, pulled another Stokes bouncer to Woakes at deep mid-wicket to bring an end to the game and the series.

Brief Scores: England 280 (Harry Brook 123, Ollie Pope 66; Nathan Smith 4-86, William O'Rourke 3-49, Matt Henry 2-43) & 427/6 decl. (Joe Root 106, Jacob Bethell 96, Ben Duckett 92, Harry Brook 55; Tim Southee 2-72, Matt Henry 2-100) beat New Zealand 125 (Kane Williamson 37; Gus Atkinson 4-31, Brydon Carse 4-46) & 280 (Tom Blundell 115, Nathan Smith 42; Ben Stokes 3-5, Chris Woakes 2-20, Brydon Carse 2-53) by 323 runs