Ben Stokes bowed out as England captain with a 160-run defeat against New Zealand, who rallied to claim the series 2-1 despite significant drama away from the field.
Fired up by taking two wickets within the first 20 minutes of the concluding day, including the prized dismissal of top-ranked batsman Joe Root, New Zealand remained persistent on the increasingly unreliable Trent Bridge wicket.
Their fielding team provided exceptional support to a bowling lineup missing the injured Will O’Rourke.
The initial breakthrough came as Emilio Gay was dismissed, carelessly extending his bat to a delivery from around the wicket by Nathan Smith. Moments later, Jamie Smith’s attempt to open his scoring account resulted in a crucial run-out when Henry Nicholls made a sharp throw from point, catching Root short of his crease.
Unlike the unpredictable tactics witnessed the evening before when Harry Brook’s dismissal incited New Zealand's Rachin Ravindra to remark, ‘What are they doing?’ England opted for a more conventional approach at 116 for six.
Surrey wicketkeeper Smith found a willing ally in county colleague Gus Atkinson and the pair had got to within seven minutes of lunch when Mitch Santner won a leg before against the latter.
Ben Stokes' final England match ended in a crushing 160-run defeat by New Zealand
New Zealand celebrate wrapping up a come from behind victory in the four Test series
Smith got to his half century after lunch, with the first of three fours in a row off slow left-armer Santner, but simply ran out of partners in almost comical fashion.
Jofra Archer was caught behind attempting to withdraw his bat, and then Josh Tongue was punished for venturing out of his ground while contemplating a single to the offside when Santner’s bullet throw found its target.
The innings was wrapped up when Smith’s previously successful policy of going down the ground against Santner saw him pick out long-on.
New Zealand, who have kept their focus despite the drama of Stokes missing the second match and then retiring towards the back end of the third, have now added England’s scalp to that of India last year.