England captain Alastair Cook has admitted that his side's batting collapse in the opening session of the final day cost them in their defeat to New Zealand.
The Black Caps ensured that the series ended as a draw with a 199-run win in the second and final Test at Headingley, bowling England all out for 255 on day five.
The hosts began the day on 44-0, but added just 18 runs for the loss of four wickets when chasing a world-record run-chase of 455 to hand New Zealand the initiative.
Cook (56) and Jos Buttler (73) were the only players to make substantial scores for England, and the skipper acknowledged that his side were hurt by the top order's poor start.
"I still think we could've batted out today," Cook told reporters.
"We knew the first session was crucial, that's where a lot of the wickets have fallen up here and in this series, because of the new ball.
"To lose four wickets pretty early on made it fairly clear that we weren't going to go for it."
Despite the defeat, there was a personal landmark for Cook as he became the first Englishman to amass 9,000 Test runs.
