Bairstow leads England to thrilling series win over Kiwis

Jonny Bairstow, who was included in the England side as replacement for Jos Butler just 24 hours ago, helped his side beat New Zealand by three wickets and clinch the five-match series 3-2 at Chester-le-Street.

Bairstow scored an unbeaten 83 off just 60 balls as England chased down the revised target of 192 from 26 overs in a rain-affected match.

The wicketkeeper, who came into the side following the hand injury suffered by Buttler in training, showed no sign of nerves under immense pressure and guided his team to a famous win over the World Cup finalists, the BBC reported.

Earlier, New Zealand posted lowest total of the series as they had set a 284-run target for England, thanks to Martin Guptill and Kane Williamson's second wicket partnership and a late flourish by Ben Wheeler.

However, the arrival of rain after the end of the first innings restricted the hosts and they were given a revised target of 192 from 26 overs under the Duckworth-Lewis method.

England's reply got off to a poor start with spinner Mitchell Santner removing Alex Hales (one), Joe Root (four) and Eoin Morgan (zero) to reduce the hosts to 20 for three.

Ben Stokes (17) came and went and New Zealand were in complete control when opener Jason Roy was dismissed for 12 to leave his team 45 for five.

But Bairstow, who came next, found a partner in Sam Billings, adding 80 for the sixth wicket to get the sold-out Riverside Ground bouncing and helping the team achieve the target with an over to spare.

The two teams will now meet on Tuesday in a T-20 international at Old Trafford, which is England's final outing before the first Ashes Test in Cardiff starting on July 8.