The architect of England’s collapse was New Zealand pace bowler Will O’Rourke, who ripped through the English middle order, claiming three crucial wickets in a devastating post-lunch spell. His victims included the world’s top two ranked Test batsmen: Harry Brook, dismissed for a golden duck – playing on to an inswinger after scoring match-winning centuries in the previous two Tests – and Joe Root, who fell for 32, caught at point after a poor cut shot. O’Rourke’s impressive figures were 3-33.

The rout began earlier with O’Rourke dismissing Jacob Bethell for 12. The damage was compounded by Mitchell Santner, who quickly removed Ollie Pope (24) and captain Ben Stokes (27) – both falling within his first seven deliveries after a brief 52-run partnership – further exposing England’s fragility. Pope edged to slip, while Stokes was bowled lbw attempting a sweep shot. Brydon Carse was also caught and bowled by Santner (3-7). Matt Henry (4-48) cleaned up the tail, claiming the final wickets of Gus Atkinson and Matthew Potts as the last five wickets fell for a mere nine runs.

England’s struggles began early, with Matt Henry removing both openers, Zak Crawley (21) and Ben Duckett (11), in the same over before lunch, leaving England at 54-2. Crawley, caught and bowled, continued his disappointing series, reaching only 47 runs across five innings at an average of 9.6. His 21 was his highest score of the series.

Despite New Zealand resuming their innings at 315-9, England took over an hour to claim the final wicket. Mitchell Santner added 26 runs to his overnight score to finish on 76, top-scoring for New Zealand. Matt Henry’s early wickets and O’Rourke’s later onslaught completely undermined England’s batting line-up, leaving them with a significant first-innings deficit of 204 runs. New Zealand opted against enforcing the follow-on. The best bowling figures for England came from Matthew Potts with 4-90.