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DRAWN SECOND TEST SEALS 1-0 SERIES WIN FOR HOSTS

New Zealand has sealed a 1-0 series win over England as Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor centuries helped secure a draw in the second Test in Hamilton.

Captain Williamson made an unbeaten 104 and Taylor 105 not out as they guided New Zealand to 241-2 - a lead of 140 - before rain ended play early.

England were unable to take a wicket in the 41 overs possible in the day.

The tourists, who lost the first Test by an innings and 65 runs, have not won in New Zealand since 2008.

Although England - under new coach Chris Silverwood - won the Twenty20 series that preceded the Tests, they end the year without a Test series victory for the first time since 1999.

They travel to South Africa for a four-Test series starting on 26 December.

Williamson and Taylor had fought their way through a difficult evening session on the fourth day, but the inconsistent bounce that England had found then all but disappeared overnight.

Despite that, Williamson offered two chances - both straightforward - but England were unable to take them.

He gloved a Ben Stokes short ball down the leg side on 39 but Ollie Pope, keeping for only the sixth time in a first-class match, could not hold on as he dived to his left.

Much worse was Joe Denly's miss with Williamson on 62. Outfoxed by a Jofra Archer slower ball, Williamson lobbed the tamest of catches to mid-wicket, where Denly let the ball slip out of his fingertips in what was described by BBC cricket correspondent Jonathan Agnew as "the worst drop in Test history".

Williamson and Taylor grew in confidence against England's short-ball tactics, putting on 213 with a mixture of pulls and gentle dabs to the third man boundary.

The skipper, who would have been run out for 97 had Sam Curran not missed with a throw from mid-off, reached three figures first by gently flicking Joe Root off his pads for his 21st Test century.

Taylor reached his hundred by hitting Root for successive sixes shortly after becoming the second New Zealander to reach 7,000 Test runs.

Rain forced the players off two balls later, and play was abandoned at 03:00 GMT, the scheduled start of the final session.

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