England complete whitewash

LEEDS, United Kingdom, June 27 (Agencies): Jonny Bairstow led England to a whitewash of Test world champions New Zealand with a stunning fifty on his Headingley home ground on Monday.
Bairstow made a blistering 71 not out, England's second quickest Test fifty of all time, to follow a stunning 162 that helped revive the hosts from a first-innings collapse to 55-6.
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).
Former captain Joe Root, largely reduced to the role of a spectator by Bairstow, was 86 not out after sharing a partnership of 111 with his Yorkshire team-mate, having started the day unbeaten on 55
England, chasing a target of 296 for victory, finished on 296-3 to complete a 3-0 series clean sweep in their first campaign under new captain Ben Stokes and red-ball coach Brendon McCullum, a former New Zealand captain.
Rain washed out the morning session to leave England, 183-2 overnight, with a nominal 78 overs in which to score the remaining 113 runs they needed for victory. But they took just 15.2 overs, scoring at a rapid rate of 7.43 an over, with Bairstow sealing victory in storybook style with a six off spinner Michael Bracewell.
Ollie Pope 81 not out overnight, fell to the fifth ball of the day when bowled by a Tim Southee off-cutter to end a sparkling stand of 134 with Root.