England began the final day of the second Test with a mountain to climb, needing 281 runs to win with only five wickets remaining after finishing day four on 182/5.
Their lone hope was stand-in captain Joe Root, who went into the shed on 77 not out and looking solid, as they looked to chase down the mammoth 463-run total set by the Black Caps.
However, New Zealand needed less than an hour of the final day to wrap things up as Matt Henry demolished the tail on his way to figures of 6/29 in the innings and 11/109 in the match.
It took just eight minutes after the start of play for Henry to trap Root LBW and effectively end any chance they may have thought they had.
He then went on to bowl Jordan Cox for 25, both Jofra Archer and Matthew Fisher for ducks, before getting Josh Tongue caught behind in a blistering morning spell of accurate fast bowling.
While England technically had a chance to pull off a miracle when the day started, New Zealand effectively won the game by dominating days two, three and four to put themselves in a virtually unassailable position going into the final day.
Glenn Phillips’ century in the first innings helped them to an imposing 391 total before bowling England out for just 291 to secure a healthy 100-run first innings lead.
Henry Nicholls tonned up in their second dig as they went past 350 for a second time, finishing 362 all out to set England 463 runs to win.
The Three Lions got off to a terrible start in losing Ben Duckett, Emilio Gay and Jacob Bethell cheaply before Joe Root and Harry Brook steadied the ship somewhat and provided a glimpse of hope.
But that all quickly disappeared late on the fourth day, as England were skittled for 209 thanks to Henry’s heroics as the hosts were beaten by 253 runs.
It is only New Zealand’s seventh Test win against England in England and only the third time they have done so since the turn of the century.
