Dream of farewell with victory broken, Ben Stokes lost his last match, England lost, New Zealand captured the series

New Delhi. The international cricket career of England’s legendary all-rounder Ben Stokes ended with a disappointing defeat instead of a memorable win. In the third and decisive Test match played at Trent Bridge ground in Nottingham, New Zealand defeated England by 160 runs and won the three-match Test series 2-1. With this victory, New Zealand once again performed brilliantly on English soil and repeated the feat of winning the Test series.

England had a tough target of 373 runs in the match. On the fifth day, the team started playing with four wickets at 103 runs but the New Zealand bowlers maintained constant pressure. The English batsmen could not make a big partnership and the entire team was reduced to 212 runs. The match ended shortly after lunch and New Zealand registered a big victory of 160 runs.

This match was the last match of Ben Stokes’ international career. He announced his retirement on the fourth day and England fans were hopeful that the team would bid farewell to their captain with a win. However this could not happen. In the second innings, Stokes opened the scoring and scored 30 runs but he could not lead the team to victory.

Ben Stokes, 35, has represented England for almost 15 years and captained the Test team for the last four years. During his career, he played many historic innings and led the team to victory on difficult occasions but his last match ended in defeat.

This defeat is a matter of concern for England in many ways. For the first time since 2012, the team lost a Test series of three or more matches on its home ground. Not only this, England has suffered its seventh defeat in its last nine Test matches. After continuous poor performance, questions are also being raised on the team management and coaching staff.

On the other hand, New Zealand performed brilliantly under the captaincy of Tom Latham. The batsmen made strong scores in the first innings while the bowlers completely destroyed England’s batting order in the second innings. With this victory, New Zealand overshadowed the departure of Ben Stokes by winning the series.