England frittered away four wickets on the fourth evening to make their fifth-day chase on a worsening Trent Bridge pitch an impossible task17:55, 29 Jun 2026Updated 17:55, 29 Jun 2026They were outstanding pieces of fielding from Henry Nicholls and Mitchell Santner, granted. But the final-day run-outs of Joe Root and Josh Tongue just about summed up the lamentable state of this England team.‌The only dead aim taken by England is at their own feet.‌And the dismissals of Root and Tongue were insults added to the injury of the madcap batting and decision-making in the final session of the fourth day.‌Take away the self-inflicted dismissals - albeit executed with fantastic direct hits - and batting looked relatively comfortable against a depleted New Zealand attack.That much was clear when Jamie Smith hit three fours from one over to take him past 50. But what happened in the next over? His partner was run out after setting off for a single that was never there.Nevertheless, the last day of this series could have been intriguing had England taken an approach that was even remotely sensible in the early stages of their second innings.‌Quite frankly, it was a shambles, partly prompted, no doubt, by some sort of romantic recall of the time, four years ago, when England needed only 50 overs to chase down 299 at Trent Bridge and beat New Zealand.That was the day many identify as the one that ignited the Ben Stokes-Brendon McCullum era.After this Test and series loss - the first in a three-match series since 2012 - Michael Atherton, the former skipper, summed it up perfectly.‌“For England, Bazball dies where it all began.”In truth, it probably died in Australia over the winter when the culture in this English dressing room - and the management’s reaction to it - was exposed as not conducive to success at this elite level.‌To be fair, there was resistance on the final day, most notably from Smith, who was the last man out for 60.But from the moment Emilio Gay was out early and was followed by Root, victory became a formality for New Zealand, who were outstanding in the field, both here and in the second Test at the Oval.That win on a dodgy pitch at Lord’s seems a long, long time ago. Yet it also seems fresh, because it was followed by the nightclub saga, the suspension of Stokes and Gus Atkinson and the rapid descent into farce and uncertainty that ended with series defeat.Article continues belowIt is the end for Stokes, it is the end for Bazball.