Supersub Jonny Bairstow pulled off a thrilling three-wicket win for England to clinch their record-breaking series 3-2 against New Zealand.
Bairstow (83 not out), playing at Chester-le-Street only after being called up 24 hours ago to replace the injured Jos Buttler, proved he too can hit as powerfully as England's first-choice wicketkeeper-batsman – carrying them from the depths of 45 for five to victory with an over to spare.
Set a revised target of 192 in 26 overs after the Kiwis had made 283 for nine, England’s reply following a three-hour break between innings thanks to stubborn drizzle began miserably against Mitchell Santner.
But after Brendon McCullum's surprise decision to open with the slow left-armer paid remarkable dividends and a career-best three for 31, Bairstow took over first in a sixth-wicket stand of 80 in just 57 balls with Sam Billings.
He too stayed the course for a match-winning maiden one-day international half-century, albeit being dropped by wicketkeeper Luke Ronchi on 39 and then later by Santner when he uppercutted Matt Henry to third man on 56.
By the time he and fellow Yorkshireman Adil Rashid saw England home, in an unbroken stand of 54, Bairstow had hit 11 fours off 60 balls.
It was a fitting climax to the first five-match ODI series ever to contain more than 3,000 runs, England prevailing despite half-centuries from Martin Guptill (67) and Kane Williamson (50) and Ben Wheeler's late hitting.
