Bairstow brilliance and fast finishes – The stats behind England’s new era

England’s new Test era started in exactly the promised style with a thrilling, aggressive 3-0 series win over New Zealand.

Playing in new coach Brendon McCullum’s image, they got the better of his former side in a series packed with far more excitement than the final scoreline suggests.

Here, the PA news agency picks out some of the most noteworthy statistical accomplishments along the way, with Jonny Bairstow leading the way.

England batted second in all three Tests and successfully chased fourth-innings targets of 277 in the first Test, 299 in the second and then 296 in the third.

That made them the first team in history to chase over 250 in the final innings to win in three successive Tests.

Australia previously came closest with three such chases in five Tests in early 2006 – winning the third and sixth Tests of a series against South Africa with 288 for two and 294 for eight respectively and following up with 307 for seven to beat Bangladesh.

There have only ever been 71 winning scores of 250-plus in the fourth innings, with England’s series matching New Zealand’s all-time tally of such wins. With 15 all-time, they trail only Australia (18).

If one player exemplified the new approach, it was Bairstow in the latter half of the series.

Scores of one, 16 and eight in his first three innings would have worried most teams, but, if the pressure was on in the second innings at Trent Bridge, particularly coming in at 56 for three, he responded in the perfect fashion.

He smashed 136 off 92 balls, with 14 fours and seven sixes, before captain Ben Stokes saw England home to a winning score of 299 for five, and Bairstow then added 162 on his home ground of Headingley to rescue his side from 17 for three and 55 for six.

That