New Zealand 180 for 7 (De Grandhomme 55, Guptill 33, T Curran 2-29) beat England 166 for 7 (Malan 55, Vince 49, Ferguson 2-25, Tickner 2-25) by 14 runs.
Nelson: England collapsed to lose by 14 runs as New Zealand took a 2-1 series lead in the third Twenty20 in Nelson on Tuesday.
Chasing 181, England were 139-2 with 31 balls remaining and seemingly cruising towards victory before they lost 5-10 in 18 balls.
Colin de Grandhomme made 55 in New Zealand's 180-7 with Tom Curran taking 2-29 and Matt Parkinson 1-14 on debut.
The fourth game of the five-match series is in Napier at 05:00 GMT on Friday.
With England looking set to take the series lead, captain Eoin Morgan was caught at deep mid-wicket off the final ball of the 14th over.
Sam Billings was then run out second-ball by a brilliant piece of fielding from Colin Munro before James Vince picked out mid-off to fall for 49.
Lockie Ferguson dismissed Lewis Gregory and Sam Curran in the 18th over, and England never recovered.
England's chase started perfectly as Tom Banton, on debut, and Dawid Malan took 25 off the first two overs.
Banton played a glorious off-drive before lofting Ferguson over mid-wicket for a mighty six. The 20-year-old Somerset opener was soon bowled, attempting to ramp, but his 10-ball 18 was a glimpse of his undeniable talent.
Malan played beautifully for a 34-ball 55. He was strong all round the wicket, with a number of superb cover drives, before he clothed a filthy full toss from Ish Sodhi to Martin Guptill at deep mid-wicket.
England looked to be cruising towards their target after partnerships of 63 and 49 between Malan and Vince and then Vince and Morgan.
However, the collapse that followed ended England's hopes of taking a series lead.