Kathmandu: England have been whitewashed in the Test cricket series against New Zealand. England won the third game by seven wickets, ending the series 3-0.
New Zealand’s 296-run target in the third Test was met by England, who lost three wickets just after lunch on the fifth day.
Joy Root scored 86 not out and Johnny Bresto scored 71 runs. New Zealand’s Tim Southee and Michael Bracewell took one wicket each.
Up on the balcony Ben Stokes was padded up as the next man in, drinking in every boundary of this rather foregone conclusion.
His side had fought back from 55 for six on the second day to win by seven wickets and the partnership with Brendon McCullum has burst out of the stalls like one of the head coach’s racehorses back home.
England’s first clean-sweep on home soil since 2011 was not simply about the scoreline and an end to the bleeding from their winter misery, but the manner in which it came about; the thundering blade of Bairstow and the shot that sealed the deal – the embodiment of what captain and coach have asked of their players.
As one of English cricket’s great disruptors, Eoin Morgan, prepares to say farewell to international cricket this week after his one-day side were reborn through a series win over New Zealand seven years ago, it is hard not to wonder whether we have witnessed something similar this past month. The beauty now comes in finding out.
Earlier, England had won the first Test by five wickets and the second Test by five wickets. New Zealand are on a tour of England for a three-match Test cricket series.
