Root: We threw absolutely everything at New Zealand

Christchurch, April 3: Captain Joe Root revealed his pride at England's efforts after they fell short of a second-Test win against New Zealand and lost the series 1-0.

The tourists could only manage a draw in Christchurch as the Black Caps battled to 256-8 in their second innings despite Stuart Broad claiming wickets with the first two balls on the final day.

That allowed New Zealand to beat England in a series for the first time since 1999, and Root's side are without an away win since the tour of Bangladesh in October 2016.

But Root did not feel England could have done any more to beat the hosts, paying credit to New Zealand, too, as the teams traded blows after the one-sided nature of a first Test which was won by an innings and 49 runs.

"We threw absolutely everything at them," Root said. "I'm very proud of the way we went about it. We had some great support as well.

"Fair play to New Zealand; they played very well. We let ourselves down in the first innings of the first Test, but apart from that we played some good cricket.

"We need to take some of the good stuff from this week into the summer.

Thank you for the wonderful support in New Zealand and congratulations to @BLACKCAPS on winning a hard-fought series.
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) April 3, 2018