New Zealand beat England by 160 runs at Trent Bridge on June 29 to seal a 2-1 series victory and retain the Crowe-Thorpe Trophy, a result that handed the hosts their first defeat in a home series of three or more Tests since 2012. Having lost the opener at Lord’s by 115 runs, New Zealand won at The Oval by 253 runs and then closed out the decider, with Daryl Mitchell named Player of the Match for his contribution across the game, capping one of the touring side’s most complete away performances of the last decade.
From 1-0 down to series winners
The turnaround began at The Oval, where New Zealand elected to field first and bowled England out twice inside four days to win by 253 runs, the largest margin of the series. That victory set up a decider in Nottingham that both sides treated as the definitive test of form, with England needing a win or draw to retain home bragging rights and New Zealand chasing what would be their fourth Test series triumph on English soil. The trophy itself, named for New Zealand great Martin Crowe and England’s Graham Thorpe, has rarely swung this dramatically from one Test to the next, and broadcasters on both sides built the Trent Bridge finale up as the most consequential deciding Test of the English summer.
How Trent Bridge was won
Set 373 to win, England resumed the final morning at 103 for 4 with Ben Stokes and Ben Duckett still at the crease, offering hope of an escape. Mitchell Santner’s left-arm spin instead prised the innings apart after lunch, and England were dismissed for 212, a margin of 160 runs. The win was built on contributions through the top and middle order across the match from Mitchell, whose all-round display across both innings and in the field earned him the match award ahead of Santner and opener Tom Latham, who provided the platform at the top of the order that allowed New Zealand’s middle order to bat around a position of control for most of the Test.
A touring side that kept improving
New Zealand’s victory arrived against an England side missing none of its headline names, which sharpened the significance of the result. Coach and support staff had targeted England’s home conditions specifically after a difficult Ashes tour in Australia earlier in the year, treating the series as a chance to prove the squad could adapt its game to seaming, swinging conditions rather than only the batting-friendly pitches of home. The series-levelling win at The Oval, in particular, was built on disciplined fast bowling that exploited overcast conditions far more effectively than England’s attack managed in response, a template the tourists then repeated with variations at Trent Bridge through Santner’s spin rather than seam.
Contrasting verdicts from the two camps
New Zealand’s management were keen to frame the win as evidence of a squad maturing collectively rather than depending on a handful of senior players, pointing to contributions from both the top order and the bowling unit across all three Tests. English observers were more inclined to see the defeat as a symptom of an attacking style that offers little insurance when declarations and scoring rates misfire, with the series opener’s near miss at Lord’s the exception that masked underlying fragility exposed at The Oval and Trent Bridge. Some former England players argued publicly that the same aggression that won the side the Lord’s Test ultimately cost them the series, by leaving too little margin for error once New Zealand’s bowlers adjusted their lengths.
What it means going forward
The result also closed out Ben Stokes’s England captaincy, as he retired from international cricket in its aftermath, adding historical weight to a series that New Zealand will remember as one of their best away performances in recent years. For New Zealand, with Mitchell and Santner both still in their prime, the win builds momentum heading into a home international summer against India, while England face the task of rebuilding both personnel and approach under a new Test captain before the next Ashes cycle begins. New Zealand Cricket is expected to use the win as a recruitment and sponsorship selling point domestically, underlining the value of a side that can now claim four Test series wins on English soil across its history.
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