England secure series win after Blundell's consolatory century

England secured a massive 323-run victory in Wellington to pocket the series 2-0 with a third Test to play. 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.

Joe 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 bowlers then got stuck in right away, constantly troubling the batters and reaping 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.

Tom 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.

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.

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