Cricket: A fine end to a captivating series

England's Mark Wood celebrates taking the wicket of New Zealand's Brendon McCullum during the one day international cricket match between England and New Zealand. Photo / AP.

Let's get the clichés out of the way.

"Cricket was the winner", "It's a shame there had to be a loser", "Full credit to New Zealand and/or England" and "it was a series of five fifths".

All are probably true, but the cadence of Jonny Bairstow's 83 off 60 balls, after coming in at 40 for four in the seventh over, provided the perfect denouement to a captivating one-day international series.

New Zealand's 3-2 loss to England was compelling viewing, even if it skewed too far in favour of bat rather than ball with a record 3151 runs scored for a series of five matches or less. Few ODI series can stake a similar claim in recent years.

New Zealand's World Cup mojo and proud record of three consecutive series victories has been dented but not burst; England have revitalised their limited overs approach and made a quantum leap from the woe of three months ago.

Despite having England 45 for five after 8.1 overs, New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum said they missed their chances, particularly off Bairstow. Examples included Luke Ronchi dropping a sharp inside edge when he was on 39, and Mitchell Santner spilling at third man on 56.

"We knew they'd keep trying to play an aggressive style. We started brilliantly. Mitch Santner [with three for 31] was particularly impressive but other guys had good first spells. One more wicket and we would have won the game comfortably. Having to score at eight or nine an over for that long is not easy but they held their nerve, and did so across the series, even after we were 2-1 up.

"Jos Buttler's performed brilliantly in both formats but Jonny's a good player, we know his pedigree.

"We've been good in parts with the bat, like the form of Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor, but some others, including myself, weren't where we needed to be to continue the World Cup momentum."

For Bairstow it was a Boys' Own-type return to the international scene, especially in an Ashes summer.

"Farbs [stand-in coach Paul Farbrace] said 'it's your game, go out and play'. That suited me. I was given a couple of lives but that's cricket.

"It's human nature to be concerned at 45 for five but we had two guys at the crease in Sam [Billings] and myself who had the ability to get us close. Sam's innings [41 off 30] was key."

McCullum said they had unearthed some talent and justified his decision to offer Central Districts' right-armer Andrew Mathieson a late debut in place of Mitchell McClenaghan.

"Santner's been outstanding and Ben Wheeler's been a real find. We were lucky enough to introduce people in an action-packed series, which asked a lot of the bowlers.

"I thought Andrew went pretty well. Asking him to bowl the last [penultimate] over was tough [he went for 17] but we wanted extra pace. Mitch has been a bit off the boil and Andrew was the top Ford Trophy wicket-taker last season [31 wickets at 18.58 and economy rate 6.08]. He showed how impressive he was at the net trainings.

"Sometimes players are not at their best, and you can let them plug away or cool their jets. Mitch will get another chance soon to rediscover the form shown early in his career. He's honest with himself and knows he was a bit 'two lengths' and down on pace."

McCullum, who puts his fragile back through an arduous regime each time he plays, said he was yet to make a decision on his coloured-clothing future.

"It's been an incredible summer for us, reaching unscaled heights and starting to build a soul to how we play. I'm lucky enough to be in a position of leadership to give guys the freedom to play that brand. The body's a bit sore but we'll see what happens..."

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