Brook notched up his second century of the series. Joe Root scored his 36th Test ton and Gus Atkinson claimed a hat-trick. These were the highlights of this Test, however, England were clearly the superior side across all departments. They have been superior across the two Tests, in fact. Meanwhile, after winning the Test series by a 3-0 margin back in India, NZ have been humbled in home conditions by England. With one more Test to go, NZ will be looking forward to getting a consolation win in Hamilton. Given the form England are in, it's not at all going to be easy. We'll be back on December 14th with the live coverage of the third Test. Do join us. For now, this is Nikhil signing off on behalf of MS Ramakrishnan, Anurag and Siva. Goodbye!
Ben Stokes: Amazing to win the series and stand here, especially after being 40/4 on day 1. Looking back at the start of this game, Brook and Pope were amazing on day 1 to go out there and play like that. It was doing plenty and there was a lot of assistance for the bowlers. The bravery of backing up your ability and play like that, to show those skills was absolutely phenomenal. To be honest, the way Brook and Pope played, they set the game up for us. We don't really give instructions for guys to go out there and play. We back everyone's ability, that's why they are playing such good cricket. They are very good at what they do. Brook thought putting the pressure back on their bowlers is exactly what was needed. He was hitting the same ball over mid-off, the same ball over cover. He was backing away and hitting it over gully. He made it difficult for NZ to put the ball consistently in the areas they wanted to. (On Bethell) Another young lad coming into the team and putting up an unbelievable performance so earlier in his career. We had a bit of a conundrum before the start of the series due to injury (one of the players.) But we believed in Bethell's ability to do something match-defining. Because of him we got such a big lead. We want guys to express themselves in tough conditions. I think Jacob Bethell has certainly shown us and the world what he is about. 560 runs are a lot of runs on whatever wicket, there's always going to be pressure on NZ to chase it down. The bowling performances by our guys have been exceptional, to run in and bowl spell after spell. Carse and Atkinson took those live five wickets quickly. To keep bowling and bowling after NZ's approach, shows his (Bashir's) character. He had a smile on his face (despite NZ batters coming after him.) I think Woakes' opening spell was incredible as he had to bowl into the wind. That was a lot of hard work. We got one more game left, so didn't want to risk anybody.
Tom Latham: It's disappointing to lose in that fashion. Harry played a fantastic knock. We were put on the back foot as we scored only 120-odd, it hurts. He (Brook) was one guy who took the game away from us, he played some unbelievable shots and put us under pressure. The guys (bowlers) tried really hard. They had a big partnership (between Duckett and Bethell) at the top yesterday. We had hopes of putting up good partnerships, but the early wickets put us on the back foot once again today. They (England) have been able to put us under pressure, we haven't been able to absorb that pressure, so credit goes to them. It's (third Test) going to be a great occasion for Southee's last Test. We are hoping to turn things around in Hamilton.
Harry Brook, Player of the Match: The circumstances in the game and the position we were in, to get that score, I was happy with it. It depends on the surface. It was tough to block it on (when the ball was moving around.) Like I said the other day, the best form of defence is attacking. It's windy too. Our bowlers put in the hard work, it's special to win this game in three days. It's always amazing to win a series. Another record for the guys to tick off. Just need to watch the ball and play it on its merit (going forward.)
16:52 Local Time, 03:52 GMT, 09:22 IST: England win this Test by a massive margin of 323 runs and go 2-0 up in the series. Harry Brook turned things around for the visitors with a magnificent century in the first innings after they had lost four early wickets. And if it was Brook's rollicking century that set things up for the visitors, it were the bowling spells by Carse and Atkinson that put England in the driver's seat by giving them a massive 155-run lead in the first innings. The pivotal knocks by Bethell and Duckett laid the foundation for a huge target and Joe Root's 36th Test ton proved to be the icing on the cake. NZ were set a gargantuan target of 583 and in overcast conditions, the England pacers once again removed the NZ top-order batters in a jiffy. Tom Blundell who was dropped on 0 by Bethell, went on to smash his fifth century in Test cricket. However, barring Blundell's knock and Nathan Smith's handy contribution down the order, none of the Kiwi batters were able to impress as they fell short of the target by more than 300 runs. England won the first Test by 8 wickets and they have won the second Test in an equally clinical manner. Stay around for the presentations..
Stokes to Southee, out Caught by Woakes!! Southee is the last man out. Stokes finishes things off with three wickets to his name, wipes off the tail in a jiffy. This was a short ball by Stokes and the batsman pulls it straight to deep mid-wicket where the fielder was stationed well inside the boundary. A comfortable catch for Woakes and that's another clinical win for the visitors. Southee c Woakes b Stokes 8(13) [4s-1]
Stokes to Southee, THATS OUT!! Caught!!
Stokes to William ORourke, 1 run, in the air, but safe! On the shorter side, William ORourke goes for a pull and gets a top edge that eludes the fielder at wide mid-on
Bashir to Southee, no run, tad short on off, knocked down the pitch by Southee
Bashir to Southee, FOUR, Southee finally connects one. A tossed up delivery on middle and leg, Southee advances down the wicket and heaves this towards deep mid-wicket for four runs
Bashir to Southee, no run, straighter delivery on off, Southee looks to heave this away, gets an inside edge on to the pads
Bashir to Southee, no run, full and straight on off, Southee defends it into the off-side
Bashir to Southee, no run, full and straight outside off, Southee swings and misses
Bashir to Southee, no run, swings across the line, gets hit on the thigh pad though
Stokes to William ORourke, no run, back of a length delivery around off, William O'Rourke looks to defend, gets beaten on the outside edge
Stokes to William ORourke, no run, short and quick on off, William ORourke lets it through to the keeper
Stokes to William ORourke, no run, short ball down the leg-side, William O'Rourke leaves it alone
William ORourke, right handed bat, comes to the crease
Stokes to Nathan Smith, out Caught by Pope!! Strangled down the leg-side! A short ball by Stokes, Nathan Smith goes for a pull and gets a glove to it. The keeper dives to his left and completes a safe catch as England are only one wicket away from winning this Test. Stokes has a smile on his face as he reckons this wasn't a delivery that deserved a wicket. Nathan Smith c Pope b Stokes 42(51) [4s-3 6s-2]
Stokes to Nathan Smith, THATS OUT!! Caught!!