New Zealand's Historic 423-Run Victory Over England in Tim Southee's Farewell Test

New Zealand finally tasted victory on home soil in Hamilton, defeating England by a record-breaking 423 runs in the third and final Test of the series. This historic win also served as a memorable farewell for New Zealand's star bowler, Tim Southee.

The 423-run victory is New Zealand's biggest win by runs in Test cricket history. The Kiwis had previously achieved the same margin of victory against Sri Lanka in the 2018 Christchurch Test.

Although New Zealand won the final match of the series, England had already secured the series win after their victories in the first two Tests. Nonetheless, New Zealand's triumph in this match allowed them to bid farewell to the Test format with a significant win, especially for Tim Southee, who played his final Test match.

In the match, New Zealand, losing the toss, batted first and scored 347 runs before being bowled out. England, in their first innings, were dismissed for just 143 runs, trailing New Zealand by a substantial 204 runs. New Zealand capitalized on this lead and piled on 453 runs in their second innings.

This set England an enormous target of 658 runs for victory. However, in their second innings, England was dismissed for 234 runs on the fourth day, allowing New Zealand to secure a dominant 423-run win, their largest margin of victory in Test history.

In his farewell Test, Tim Southee did not take a wicket in the first innings but redeemed himself in the second innings with two key scalps. He dismissed Jack Bethall, who had top-scored for England, and then claimed the wicket of Gus Atkinson, who made 43 runs off 41 balls.