Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root lead England to whitewash victory over New Zealand

Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root completed England’s third blistering chase in a row to kick off their riotous new era under Brendon McCullum with a series whitewash over New Zealand at Headingley.

Root barely broke a sweat as he finished with 86 not out and fellow Yorkshireman Jonny Bairstow continued the form of his life as he crashed 77no to seal a seven-wicket win and a 3-0 scoreline.

In keeping with their astonishing efforts over the past month, England needed just 15.2 overs and a shade over an hour to score the 113 runs required for victory, with a pair of local boys fittingly at the fore.

Bairstow, following up two unforgettable attacking centuries, blazed the second fastest Test 50 in English history just a week after claiming the second fastest hundred. He brought up his half-century in 30 balls, two more than Sir Ian Botham’s 1981 record, and finished the game with the last of three huge sixes.

Ben Stokes and McCullum took over as captain and head coach at the start of the summer hoping to revitalise the fortunes of a side that had won just one of their last 17 Tests, and have started their reigns with a hat-trick of remarkable victories at Lord’s, Trent Bridge and now in Leeds.

The Black Caps, reigning Test world champions have set stiff targets on each occasion – 277, 299 and 296 – only to find their hosts in irresistible form at every turn. Here they completed the chase at a manic average run-rate of 5.54.

England had finished day four in control, making light of a wearing pitch as a century stand between Ollie Pope and Root took them to 183 for two at a rampant rate of scoring.

That left just more than a hundred still to get, a challenging fifth day ask in ordinary times but a seemingly trifling figure given to