The BBC's Simon Mann: "England finished the summer at one of their lowest points ever"

England slumped to a humiliating series defeat after New Zealand romped to victory on the fourth day of the final Test at The Oval.

The result means England have now plummeted to the bottom of the Wisden international rankings and are statistically the worst Test team in the world.

But for New Zealand it was an emotional day, as they achieved only their second series triumph in England.

Most of the damage was done in the morning when England suffered a familiar batting collapse.

And the three remaining wickets were wrapped up in double-quick time after lunch, as the Kiwis claimed a deserved series win after dominating the summer with a refreshing brand of team-oriented cricket.

England lost their last eight wickets for 39 runs in the space of just 105 deliveries.

The manner of the defeat was abject, but despite the boos directed at England, captain Nasser Hussain refused to criticise his players

"I'm proud of the way we fought," he said. "We lost to a better team.

"If we fight like that we won't go far wrong as a team."

Kiwis in charge throughout

Before the series New Zealand had been billed as lambs to the slaughter - the perfect opponents for an England team looking to rebuild its credibility.

Mike Atherton: His departure sparked a monumental collapse

Instead the tourists have dominated the four-match contest, winning 2-1. But for a sloppy finish at Edgbaston and rain at Old Trafford, they could have whitewashed England 4-0.

New Zealand's success throughout the summer has been based on individuals rising above the mediocre standard on display and producing inspired performances.

On the second day at The Oval it was Daniel Vettori, on Saturday it was man of the match Chris Cairns - and this time it was Dion Nash's turn to pick up the gauntlet.

Nash ripped the heart out of England's second innings, taking three wickets in the space of two overs - including two in successive balls - with a full-blooded spell of pace bowling.

England, who had started so steadily, never recovered from that treble setback.

The batting, which has been the major failing throughout the series, again capitulated when the pressure was on.

The BBC's Simon Mann: "What a calamity for England"

Seasoned campaigners like Mike Atherton, Graham Thorpe, Alec Stewart and Mark Ramprakash failed to provide the resistance against a battling Kiwi effort.

A host of experienced players will now be nervously waiting to discover whether they have survived when the squad for the winter tour of South Africa is announced later this week.

Steady start

England went into the fourth day as slight favourites, after Atherton and Thorpe had led them to 91-2 at the close on Saturday, chasing a victory target of 246.

New Zealand celebrate a thoroughly deserved 2-1 series win

But after they had safely negotiated the opening onslaught, Thorpe edged a Shayne O'Connor delivery to the slips, where the safe hands of Stephen Fleming claimed yet another excellent catch.

It was the fourth time in the series that Thorpe, who earlier made the surprise announcement he would not be touring South Africa this winter, had been caught in the slips.

He made 44 and added 78 with Atherton for the third wicket - equalling the highest partnership in a see-saw match.

At that stage England still had a great chance of reaching their target.

But as so often in recent years, the dismissal of Atherton proved decisive.

With the former captain at the crease, the team had looked well placed to win a fascinating match, but he mistimed a pull shot off Nash and was caught behind off a thin inside edge.

Much had also been expected of Ramprakash, one of the few English batting successes in the last two games, but Nash saw him off the very next ball.

The hapless Alec Stewart - possibly in his last Test - then directed a pull shot straight to square leg and there looked to be no way out for England.

Sprint finish

The departure of Andy Caddick in the last over of the morning saw the home side take lunch at 157-7.

At that stage, England's desperate hopes rested with the last recognised batsman, all-rounder Ronnie Irani - but the end came all too swiftly after the resumption.

Irani was dismissed by Vettori's first ball after the break and Phil Tufnell was run out in comical fashion that summed up England's desperate plight.

And when Alan Mullally holed out in the deep off New Zealand's player of the series Cairns, England's humiliation was complete.

Cornhill Insurance Fourth Test: England v New Zealand
22 Aug 99 at The Foster's Oval

New Zealand beat England by 83 runs

Scorecard correct at 12:52 GMT 13:52 UK

England second innings 162 all out (56.1overs)
New Zealand second innings 162 all out (54overs)
England first innings 153 all out (80overs)
New Zealand first innings 236 all out (102.1overs)

England second innings

Batsman			Runs	Balls	4s	6s
MA Atherton	c Parore	b Nash	64	158	8	-
DL Maddy	c Fleming	b Nash	5	16	-	-
N Hussain	c Parore	b O'Connor	9	24	1	-
GP Thorpe	c Fleming	b O'Connor	44	71	6	-
AJ Stewart	c Bell	b Nash	12	29	2	-
MR Ramprakash	c Parore	b Nash	0	1	-	-
RC Irani	c Parore	b Vettori	9	28	1	-
AR Caddick	c Bell	b Vettori	3	5	-	-
AD Mullally	c Twose	b Cairns	3	11	-	-
PCR Tufnell		run out	1	1	-	-
ESH Giddins		not out	0	-	-	-
Extras	2b 3lb 0w 7nb		12
TOTAL:	56.1 overs		162

Fall of wickets: 1-23 (23 Maddy, 36 mins), 2-45 (22 Hussain, 31 mins), 3-123 (78 Thorpe, 100 mins), 4-143 (20 Atherton, 40 mins), 5-143 (0 Ramprakash, - mins), 6-148 (5 Stewart, 9 mins), 7-157 (9 Caddick, 9 mins), 8-160 (3 Irani, 14 mins), 9-161 (1 Tufnell, 1 mins), 10-162 (1 Mullally, - mins)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
C L Cairns	15.1	3	50	1
D J Nash	14	3	39	4
D L Vettori	16	6	36	2
S B O'Connor	11	3	32	2

New Zealand second innings

Batsman			Runs	Balls	4s	6s
MJ Horne	lbw	b Giddins	10	31	-	-
MD Bell	c Irani	b Caddick	4	24	-	-
SP Fleming	c Thorpe	b Caddick	4	29	-	-
NJ Astle	c Irani	b Giddins	5	19	-	-
RG Twose	c Stewart	b Giddins	0	7	-	-
CD McMillan	lbw	b Mullally	26	42	3	-
AC Parore		b Caddick	1	11	-	-
CL Cairns	c &	b Mullally	80	93	8	4
DJ Nash		not out	10	56	1	-
DL Vettori	c Ramprakash	b Tufnell	6	6	1	-
SB O'Connor		b Tufnell	6	11	-	-
Extras	0b 4lb 1w 5nb		10
TOTAL:	54 overs		162

Fall of wickets: 1-15 (15 Bell, 38 mins), 2-15 (0 Horne, 1 mins), 3-22 (7 Astle, 20 mins), 4-22 (0 Twose, 7 mins), 5-37 (15 Fleming, 25 mins), 6-39 (2 Parore, 7 mins), 7-79 (40 McMillan, 33 mins), 8-149 (70 Cairns, 74 mins), 9-156 (7 Vettori, 11 mins), 10-162 (6 O'Connor, 9 mins)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
A R Caddick	17	4	35	3
A D Mullally	11	2	27	2
E S H Giddins	10	3	38	3
P C R Tufnell	16	3	58	2

England first innings

Batsman			Runs	Balls	4s	6s
MA Atherton	c Fleming	b Nash	10	45	1	-
DL Maddy		b Vettori	14	48	1	-
N Hussain	c Bell	b Cairns	40	111	2	-
GP Thorpe	c Fleming	b Cairns	10	22	1	-
AJ Stewart		b Vettori	11	56	-	-
MR Ramprakash	c Parore	b Cairns	30	110	2	-
RC Irani	lbw	b Cairns	1	4	-	-
AR Caddick		b O'Connor	15	49	1	1
AD Mullally	c Bell	b Vettori	5	36	-	-
PCR Tufnell		not out	0	1	-	-
ESH Giddins	lbw	b Cairns	0	4	-	-
Extras	1b 5lb 5w 6nb		17
TOTAL:	80 overs		153

Fall of wickets: 1-25 (25 Atherton, 57 mins), 2-29 (4 Maddy, 5 mins), 3-46 (17 Thorpe, 33 mins), 4-87 (41 Stewart, 74 mins), 5-91 (4 Hussain, 13 mins), 6-94 (3 Irani, 7 mins), 7-141 (47 Caddick, 63 mins), 8-153 (12 Mullally, 44 mins), 9-153 (0 Ramprakash, 8 mins), 10-153 (0 Giddins, 2 mins)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
C L Cairns	19	8	31	5
D J Nash	14	5	40	1
S B O'Connor	13	3	30	1
D L Vettori	33	12	46	3
N J Astle	1	1	0	0

New Zealand first innings

Batsman			Runs	Balls	4s	6s
MJ Horne	c Caddick	b Irani	15	82	2	-
MD Bell	c Stewart	b Mullally	23	97	1	-
SP Fleming		not out	66	234	3	-
NJ Astle	c Stewart	b Caddick	9	14	1	-
RG Twose	c Maddy	b Giddins	1	20	-	-
CD McMillan		b Tufnell	19	30	2	1
AC Parore	c Ramprakash	b Tufnell	0	2	-	-
CL Cairns		b Mullally	11	19	2	-
DJ Nash	c Ramprakash	b Caddick	18	67	2	-
DL Vettori	lbw	b Tufnell	51	48	7	-
SB O'Connor	lbw	b Caddick	1	2	-	-
Extras	9b 9lb 2w 2nb		22
TOTAL:	102.1 overs		236

Fall of wickets: 1-39 (39 Horne, 106 mins), 2-45 (6 Bell, 23 mins), 3-54 (9 Astle, 17 mins), 4-62 (8 Twose, 25 mins), 5-87 (25 McMillan, 36 mins), 6-87 (0 Parore, 0 mins), 7-104 (17 Cairns, 29 mins), 8-157 (53 Nash, 104 mins), 9-235 (78 Vettori, 78 mins), 10-236 (1 O'Connor, 3 mins)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
A R Caddick	33.1	17	66	3
A D Mullally	26	12	34	2
E S H Giddins	16	4	41	1
P C R Tufnell	16	3	39	3
R C Irani	11	3	38	1

England won the toss and decided to field

Umpires: G Sharp, S Venkataraghavan

England
M A Atherton , D L Maddy , N Hussain (capt) , G P Thorpe , A J Stewart (wkt) , M R Ramprakash , R C Irani , A R Caddick , A D Mullally , P C R Tufnell , E S H Giddins ,

New Zealand
M J Horne , M D Bell , S P Fleming (capt) , N J Astle , C D McMillan , R G Twose , C L Cairns , A C Parore (wkt) , D L Vettori , D J Nash , S B O'Connor ,