England captain Joe Root demanded a major improvement from his batting department after New Zealand completed a clinical eight-wicket win in the second Test in Edgbaston on Sunday. The Black Caps' victory handed them just their third series success in England, with their previous triumphs dating back to 1986 and 1999. Left-arm seamer Trent Boult set the ball rolling early when he dismissed tailender Olly Stone on the first ball of the fourth day's play. That gave the visitors a target of just 38, which they reached with eight wickets in hand. The match had been set up on Day 3 when Kiwi seamer Matt Henry took three top order wickets to leave England reeling at 76-7, and then bowled out for 122. Captain Root said his team's second innings effort simply was not good enough. "You can have bad sessions on occasion with the ball but you can't have a session like that with the bat, that's where the game has really cost us," Root said. "Of course, we could have been better in other areas as well and throughout the game New Zealand definitely have played us. "But I think more than anything it's managing those situations; those scenarios – a couple of quick wickets, how are we going to get through to a break or how are we going to manage a little bit of pressure for a 10-over period, calm things down again and batting looks like a completely different place." England thus suffered their first Test series loss on home soil since the 2014 defeat to Sri Lanka. New Zealand took control of the match after posting 388 in reply to the home side's first innings total of 303. Man of the series Devon Conway said the 1-0 series win was perfect preparation for the World Test Championship final against India on June 18. "I think this was very good prep for us, getting used to the pitches, the swing of the ball so we're all looking forward to it," Conway said. "It's a big opportunity for us looking forward and I'm excited for it."
