After winning their first two ODIs in Mount Maunganui and Hamilton, hosts New Zealand clinched a thrilling victory in the third and final ODI of the series here at the Sky Stadium to hand England a heartbreaking 0-3 defeat. The Mitchell Santner-led side beat the visitors by two wickets.

Put to bat first, England were bowled out for 222 runs in 40.2 overs, marking the third straight instance of the hosts being bowled out to visitors this series. The top-order batters failed to fire as Jamie Smith, Ben Duckett, and Joe Root were dismissed cheaply.

While the two openers were dismissed for 5 and 8 runs, respectively, Root perished scoring just two runs off three deliveries as the Kiwis got three wickets inside the first five overs.

Skipper Harry Brook, who had been in good touch with the ba

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