Bairstow smashes century to set up England’s series win over New Zealand

Jonny Bairstow unleashed an astonishing century to power England to a famous series win over New Zealand, making child’s play of a record chase alongside his triumphant captain, Ben Stokes.

Bairstow produced the innings of his life, obliterating New Zealand’s attack to finish with 136 from 92 balls as he and Stokes bullied their way to a five-wicket win and an unassailable 2-0 series lead.

The pair dazzled in a gamechanging fifth-wicket stand of 179, turning a nail-biting finale into a cakewalk as England smashed the previous successful pursuit at this ground to hunt down 299.

Bairstow came within a whisker of scoring the fastest century by an Englishman but left Gilbert Jessop’s 120-year-old record of 76 balls intact. It took him just one delivery more to reach three figures, but the reward of seizing a pressure situation and standing tall for his team with everything on the line will go a long way to making up for that.

Stokes, meanwhile, overcame a painful knee to finish with a wonderful 75 not out, scoring the winning boundary to continue his reign in unforgettable fashion after last week’s win at Lord’s.

Capping a game that finished with the highest boundary count in Test history, Bairstow hit seven sixes and 14 fours, with Stokes weighing in with four and 10. The whole affair played out in front of a capacity crowd of just under 18,000, whose day of epic entertainment came free after Nottinghamshire threw the doors open.

After bowling New Zealand out for 284 in the morning England had only 72 overs to get the runs, at a steep required rate of 4.15. If ever there was an examination of their commitment to the ultra-aggressive ethos preached by Stokes and the head coach, Brendon McCullum, since their appointments,