England captain Ben Stokes stunned the cricket world by announcing his upcoming retirement from international duty in the middle of a test match on Sunday.
But prospects of a victorious farewell were slim as New Zealand closed in on a series-clinching win.
Stokes confirmed he would end his celebrated England career after the ongoing third and final test in Nottingham, adding more drama to a three-match series locked at 1-1.
The final act of Ben Stokes' extraordinary England career 🥹❤️ pic.twitter.com/Xf2rm3sLEH
— ICC (@ICC) June 28, 2026
But Daryl Mitchell's 100 not out took New Zealand to 288-9 declared and left England requiring 373 for victory on a wearing pitch.
At stumps, however, England were 103-4 – with Stokes out after opening the innings in another surprise move – and needing 270 more runs to win.
Stokes's announcement was made public shortly before tea on the fourth day with the 35-year-old, one of the outstanding allrounders of his generation, having informed his teammates before the start of Sunday's play.
He was in the middle of a lengthy bowling spell, with news filtering into a stunned crowd – who gave him a standing ovation – as he was about to start his 11th over.
And in a moment of pure sporting theatre, Stokes had Zak Foulkes caught at slip with his next ball to spark yet more raucous cheers.
Stokes – normally a middle-order batsman – then came out to open the innings for just the third time in his 122-test career.
Stokes signalled his intentions with a fierce drive off his first ball faced before he was dropped soon afterwards.
He later lofted New Zealand's Foulkes for a legside six and cleared the ropes again when he slog-swept seamer Nathan Smith.
But Stokes was out for 30 off 20 balls when he slogged Foulkes to wide mid-on, with England 50-1.
Four balls later, Jacob Bethell was lbw to Foulkes for a duck and before stumps of a frantic final session both Harry Brook and first-innings century-maker Ben Duckett had been dismissed as well.
Sunday's shock announcement came after Stokes returned to England duty at Trent Bridge following the fall-out from a London nightclub incident also involving teammate Gus Atkinson earlier this month.
The pair were omitted from England's 253-run defeat in the second test at The Oval for breaking a midnight curfew while celebrating following the first-test win over New Zealand.
'BURNED MYSELF OUT'
England's 4-1 Ashes series loss in Australia, concluded in January, was also marred by allegations of a drinking culture.
"God, it's been an interesting four or five weeks, six months in general," Stokes told Sky Sports after Sunday's close.
"There's all types of emotions when this day comes, there's relief, there's happiness, there's excitement, there's sadness, there's everything that you go through.
"Since the Ashes it's been really tough."
Stokes, appointed England skipper in 2022, added: "It's the best thing I've ever been asked to do, captain this team and captain this country. But there's another side to it all that people don't see and don't understand.
"Only people close to those people can see it.
"As good as it is, there are bits where it does drain you, and does affect you in an emotional way."
Stokes said the timing of his retirement owed much to the "negative" feelings he experienced from the fall-out of the nightclub incident after he tried to get England back on track at Lord's.
"I'd worked so hard from getting back home to try and make things right, that's what I thought I was doing," he said. "I put so much time and effort into it potentially I burnt myself out."
Earlier, Mitchell batted for more than six-and-a-half hours, facing 241 balls including 10 fours after suffering several painful blows from England's pace attack
He also shared a fourth-wicket stand of 129 with Rachin Ravindra, who fell short of a century when dismissed for 94 and also received good support from tailender Ben Sears.
Sears, having retired hurt, returned at the fall of the ninth wicket to ensure Mitchell, on 92, could complete his hundred.
ENGLAND: Emilio Gay, Ben Duckett, Jacob Bethell, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith (wk), Ben Stokes (capt), Gus Atkinson, Jofra Archer, Josh Tongue, Shoaib Bashir
NEW ZEALAND: Tom Latham (capt), Devon Conway, Henry Nicholls, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell (wk), Mitchell Santner, Nathan Smith, Blair Tickner, Will O'Rourke, Ben Sears