It was captivating until the end and – for England – hugely frustrating. They could not bowl out New Zealand on the final day at the Hagley Oval despite the bonus of taking two wickets with the first two deliveries of the day, which were bowled by Stuart Broad.

At lunch England had taken four wickets; at tea they had six and the second new ball had only been used for two overs. In the last session, however, they could muster only two more wickets as New Zealand’s tail resolutely combatted just about everything propelled in their direction, which, when the pacemen were in action, consisted mostly of bouncers. For a jubilant home side the lower order, Colin de Grandhomme, Ish Sodhi and Neil Wagner, who was dismissed by Joe Root with the last ball of the game, augmented the excellent innings of Tom Latham heroically. This trio of lower-order batsmen faced a total of 368 balls between them.

England had been in charge for most of this Test, an unusual experience for them on this long winter tour, but having been held to a draw the statistics look grim. This was the 13th match in succession overseas that England have been unable to win – they have lost 10 and drawn three – which is their worst run away from home in Test history. By contrast New Zealand could celebrate their fourth series victory over England.

The start was sensational as Broad had opened up the possibility of victory in his first over. His first delivery was innocuous, fullish at Jeet Raval’s pads, and it was flicked gently straight into the hands of Mark Stoneman at square leg. Out came Kane Williamson, New Zealand’s finest; in came Broad and this time he sent the ball down the approved channel. The delivery held its line and took the edge of the bat as Williamson defended on the back foot.

Ross Taylor defended the hat-trick ball calmly and along with Latham brought some sanity back to proceedings. Root introduced Jack Leach early on and both batsmen were inclined to attack him with a variety of sweep shots. On six, Taylor offered a tough chance to James Vince at third slip off Broad and it fell to the ground. Soon he played a paddle sweep against Leach that was in the air for the while before bouncing in front of the boundary fielder. The next time Taylor was on strike Root placed Alastair Cook in no man’s land at backward square leg about 35 yards from the bat. He paddle swept again and another top edge landed gently in Cook’s hands. It was a strange shot unless Taylor had not spotted the field change.

All the while Latham had proceeded with neat composure but Henry Nicholls was less certain and when James Anderson tempted him with a full-length delivery he drove haplessly and edged into the reliable hands of Cook at slip. Now BJ Watling, renowned for his grittiness, settled easily enough; it looked as if he was enjoying the challenge.

Next Mark Wood made his first invention, another one to give captain Root satisfaction. He was bowling around the wicket and Root gave him a leg slip. He delivered a straight full-length ball and Watling shimmied to the off side to flick it away. He made good contact but the ball sped straight to Anderson, who was that man at leg slip.

England crowd the bat with fielders as Jack Leach bowls in the closing moments at Hagley Oval. Photograph: Stu Forster/Getty Images

Ten overs later England snatched the wicket of New Zealand’s best batsman on the day. Latham tried another sweep shot when Leach had been moved to the northern end. There was a puff of dust and the ball took the top-edge. Vince at backward square leg sprinted in and, judging the situation well, dived forward to take a fine catch.

So all the natural batsmen were gone but De Grandhomme remained a big obstacle. On six he sliced a drive against Leach, and Stoneman at short cover dived to his left but he could not hold on to the ball. The ball followed Stoneman. Soon he was at silly point when Sodhi prodded forward to Leach. The ball took the leading edge and went quickly in his direction but it fell to earth. These were expensive misses since De Grandhomme and Sodhi stayed together for almost 26 overs.

Then, having dealt with a succession of short balls very effectively by pulling them downwards, De Grandhomme was tempted by yet another bouncer from Wood. This time the ball was shoulder high and De Grandhomme attempted to pull again. The ball took the top edge and Leach at fine leg took a neat catch.

The door was open again but Wagner was undaunted alongside Sodhi. Together they batted 31 overs as England grew ever more desperate. Leach, whose first Test was a modest success, bowled a little full, albeit on a pitch that was sluggish. He tried valiantly to exploit the minimal rough created by the bowlers’ footmarks but there was little turn for him on the untrammelled part of the pitch. The other relative newcomer, Wood, bounded in eagerly for his two wickets but he was also frustrated by the slow surface.

Crucially, no one was able to make the second new ball move off the straight and narrow. So England reverted to a barrage of relatively gentle bouncers, a mode of attack that became predictable for these resolute Kiwi tail-enders. Even after their perfect start England had to cling on to every chance that came their way and they were not good enough to do that.