It was a fitting end to a 3-0 series win that can become a benchmark in time as Jonny Bairstow threw Michael Bracewell for six years and hugged his Yorkshire teammate Joe Root, after completing another awesome chase.
England were back on track and New Zealand set aside, Bairstow’s shot completed the blitz of a 296 goal in 54.2 overs. After the rain of the fifth morning on loan, they only needed 64 minutes to eliminate the last 113 runs, with the disappearance of Ollie Pope in the first over, neck blow and 82-yard cut by Tim Southee, the only stumble.
Bairstow, just reversed this game with his brilliant 162 in the first innings, and after that overwhelming 136 at Trent Bridge, emerged with a brisk mood, making eight quarters and three sixs for an undefeated 71 in 44 balls. Root simply slid from 55 to 86 overnight and while the shock and admiration at the other end meant missing his 28th century of testing, his smile remained constant.
On the balcony, Ben Stokes was padded like the next man, drinking to the fullest of this rather anticipated conclusion. His team had struggled from 55 for six on the second day to win by seven ports and the partnership with Brendon McCullum has erupted from the stops as one of the coach’s race horses heading home.
England’s first clean sweep on its own land since 2011 was not just about marking and ending the haemorrhage of its winter misery, but the way it occurred; the thunderous Bairstow blade – and the shot that sealed the deal – the embodiment of what the captain and coach have asked of their players.
While one of the great disruptors of English cricket, Eoin Morgan, is preparing to say goodbye to international cricket this week after his one-day team was reborn through a series victory over New Zealand seven years ago, it is hard not to wonder if we have witnessed something. similar this past month. Beauty now comes upon discovering it.
Like Morgan and Trevor Bayliss, Stokes and McCullum are preaching relentless positivity. There has only been one tic-tac-toe: Bairstow, to sign autographs on the edge of the boundary in Nottingham when Stokes tried to move him, and they are relying on the attacking talent of their licensed players to fail in the attempt instead of dying wondering. This is what Rob Key was looking for when he reunited the couple.
The sample size is small, no doubt, and there have been moments of sliding doors. But England’s three consecutive chases exceeding 275, victories at Lord’s and Headingley after the sinking of the first inning and a debutant at Jamie Overton who made the 97th at number 8 say a bit about the wind of change what happened.
Jonny Bairstow hit a 71 undefeated with 44 balls, with eight fours and three sixes. Photography: Mike Egerton / PA
Stokes has already given his team an identity, something that rarely happened with Root, and of course that means pushing the envelope into test cricket. This season they are collectively scoring nearly 4.5 runs per over, compared to 3.1 in their previous two summers at home; it has to go back to the Ashes of 2005, when Australia met head-on, for an equally forceful approach.
The captain even wanted the end of the series to be done and dusted off on Sunday evening, only to accept that 296 in 41 overs (plus seven for the extra half hour) could be pushing him. However, he has personally led the attack by going strong on the ball from number 6 and, although sometimes reckless – much cleaner when defined – the message has been clear.
In the field Stokes has been assertive and inventive and, although catches have gone down, his shoulders have not. Similarly, he has left his mark on the attack, filling Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad with love after his exclusion from the Caribbean and seeing the acceptance of the two greats, introducing young Matt Potts, what a prospect he seems, and endowing Jack Leach with confidence. .
“I haven’t seen a happier locker room for one person,” Stokes said, when asked about the 10-port match from the left arm spinner. “He’s continued to be brave and his mindset is to take wickets not to control the scoreboard. And that comes from our mindset as a batting unit: we’ll never be afraid of any total.”
New Zealand marches with the careers of Daryl Mitchell – three centuries, 538 runs averaging 107.6 – and Tom Blundell – 383 with 76.6 – improved, and memories of Trent Boult’s sublime new ball exploded here at the first entries into England. They also take home a suitcase full of regrets, but mostly the absence of a front-line spinner this week.
There was also Colin de Grandhomme playing Stokes with a ball without a ball in the chase of England’s races at Lord’s, Pope and Root’s drops for centuries at Trent Bridge and Kane Williamson could not check a lbw against Overton at Leeds when he had five races in his 97 in the debut; if he had done so, England would have been 65 for seven years.
Those moments should probably temper the excitement for England’s start a bit and there is a quick twist ahead of the fifth rescheduled test against India on Friday. But it can already be said with some certainty how they intend to address it.