England ease to 3-2 win with Jonny Bairstow ton
A disciplined bowling performance followed by a 58-ball hundred from Jonny Bairstow propelled England to a seven-wicket win over New Zealand in the one-day series decider in Christchurch.
It was Bairstow’s second consecutive century, and his blistering 104 in just 60 balls featured nine fours and six sixes. His 155-run opening stand with Alex Hales set the tone for a dominant chase of New Zealand’s 223, as the visitors overhauled the target in 32.4 overs.
Adil Rashid and Chris Woakes picked up three wickets each to dismiss New Zealand in 49.5 overs, with only half-centuries from Henry Nicholls and Mitchell Santner propping up the home side.
With the series level at 2-2, England elected to bowl after winning the toss and took immediate control. New Zealand were rocked early as Colin Munro departed off the third ball, top-edging a short ball from Chris Woakes to the wicket-keeper for a second-ball duck.
Kane Williamson, the New Zealand captain, was next to fall for 14, a victim of Mark Wood’s accurate bowling.
New Zealand needed partnerships to stabilize the innings and Martin Guptill and Tom Latham tried to do just that, but their association of 34 runs for the third wicket was broken by Rashid.
In the end, Bairstow made it look too easy for England. Stokes finishes it off with a six, and that's the series wrapped up 3-2! 🏆#NZvENG SCORECARD ➡️ https://t.co/2Pnu6S7T6Z pic.twitter.com/xW9ZLdwB9n
— ICC (@ICC) March 10, 2018
The next over had Moeen Ali sending back Mark Chapman for a duck, and New Zealand slumped from 26/2 to 61/4.
Guptill dug in despite the wickets falling around him to score 47 in 68 balls before becoming Rashid’s second victim. Colin de Grandhomme also fell cheaply as the spinner claimed his third wicket.
New Zealand were tottering at 93/6 when Nicholls and Santner accelerated the flow of runs in a crucial 84-run stand for the seventh wicket.
On a good day for England’s spinners, Tom Curran, the pacer, chipped in with the wicket of Nicholls, who scored 55 in 81 balls.
Woakes got the important wicket of Santner, ending his entertaining innings of 67 in 71 deliveries, which included four fours and two sixes.
Chasing a paltry target of 224, England raced to 65 for none in the first 10 overs. Bairstow and Hales, the opener coming in as one of the changes to the squad, made the New Zealand bowling attack look toothless.
Bairstow, thriving at the top of the order, went on the attack in the very first over, even as the New Zealand bowlers lost their lines. Hales too enjoyed a good return, striking nine fours in his 74-ball 61.
Bairstow’s wicket – he hit his stump while attempting to go deep in his crease – triggered a mini slide: Santner had Hales caught at short mid-wicket and Eoin Morgan fell to a diving Ish Sodhi in the deep, but it was too late for New Zealand by then.
Joe Root (23* in 37) and Ben Stokes (26* in 18) added the finishing touches and a slogged six from Strokes sealed the series for England.