New Zealand pulled off a thrilling draw in the second and final Test against England in Christchurch after a fantastic rearguard led by Ish Sodhi. Set 382 runs to win, New Zealand finished on 256/8 courtesy Sodhi, who remained unbeaten on 56, Colin de Grandhomme (45) and Neil Wagner, who scored just 7 runs but ate up 103 balls. Prior to their starring roles, Tom Latham kept one end up even as wickets fell around him, scoring 83 in close to five hours.

New Zealand were 162/6 when Sodhi joined de Grandhomme and the two added 57 runs for the seventh wicket in 25.5 overs. After de Grandhomme's dismissal, Sodhi combined with Wagner and played out 31.2 overs to secure the draw.

“Bit of drama at the end. Wagner was with me in the tough periods. He's a bit of a fighter with the ball and he showed with the bat too today. They started bowling bumpers and it was hard to pick up, but it was a pretty true wicket,” Sodhi said after the game.

Saying that Wagner's support helped him fight, Sodhi said, “Wagner kept me going ... ‘five more minutes to go’, ‘two more minutes to go'. I got one on the fingers that's pretty sore now. It kept ringing for a while but that's the beauty of the game. You take it on the chin.”

Tim Southee was adjudged the Player of the Match for his seven wickets in the game and 48-ball 50 in the first innings.

“Rough couple of days but all good in the end. It's nice to put the whites back on. Pleasing to close a pretty good summer,” he said.

Southee and Trent Boult combined to pick up all 10 wickets in England's first innings just as they had done in the first innings in the first Test in Auckland. “Played a lot of cricket together with Trent and it's a partnership we enjoy and look forward to doing on most occasions,” said Southee.

Boult, meanwhile, was named the Player of the Series for picking up 15 wickets across the two Tests.

“Phenomenal way to end the season. Full credit to the English boys. Great last day of the season for us to get over the line. It was very memorable for all of us,” Boult said.

“Me and Tim have played a lot of cricket together already and as a bowling unit we found ways to get wickets in these conditions and put the batting side in a good position. Big summer for all of us, we will celebrate the victory today.”

Kane Williamson, the New Zealand captain, was understandably delighted with the result – New Zealand’s first Test series win over England since 1999 – and the way the season concluded for his team.

“We didn't get off to the best start today, knew that it would be a tough day but plenty of resolve shown by Latham and de Grandhomme. Special mention to Ish and Wagner for sticking it out. They dealt with a lot of short stuff and hung in there,” Williamson said.

“Good to be on the right side of the result. Been a great summer, would have been nice to have more Test cricket maybe.”

It was a disappointing result for Joe Root and his England side as they slumped to another series defeat away. However, Root was proud of the way the bowlers performed in the final innings. “We threw absolutely everything at New Zealand today. Absolutely proud of the bowling unit. Fair play to NZ, they were too good. Barring that first innings at Auckland (when England were bowled out for 58), it's been a really close series,” Root said.

“We let ourselves down in that innings but have shown a lot of character ever since. You want to play in big series and we got that opportunity in this winter. Unfortunately, things didn't go to plan but we need to pick ourselves up for the (home) summer.”