New Zealand vs England, 2018: 5th ODI – Statistical Highlights

An exciting series between New Zealand and England came to a pale end with the visiting team trashing the hosts in the series decider. A batting fiasco at the fortress Christchurch saw New Zealand posting on 223 which was never possible without Mitchell Santner and Henry Nicholls’ fifties. A sizzling 60-ball 104 from Jonny Bairstow and contributions from other end saw England completing a series win with seven wickets and over 17 overs to spare.

All the stats and numbers that were recorded during the one-sided series-deciding match:

1 – This defeat was the first for New Zealand at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch in the ODI format. The hosts won all the previous eight ODI games they played at the venue.

2 – Only the 2nd time New Zealand lost a bilateral ODI series at home in more than three years. South Africa defeated them by 3-2 in the last year’s 5-match series.

4 – Number of 40+ scores for Mitchell Santner in this series. He is the first player to score four 40+ scores in an ODI series/tournament while batting at No.8 and a lower position. His series scores read 45*, 63*, 41 and 67. Santner also became the first New Zealand player with multiple fifties at No.8 and a lower position in an ODI series/tournament.

4 – As many as four times the teams won the game after winning the toss and electing to bowl first in this series. This is only the 2nd bilateral ODI series in the last 12 years that four times a team won after electing to bowl first. Teams won four times after electing to bowl in the Zimbabwe-India ODI series in 2013. It was also the last instance of the teams electing to bowl in all games of a 5-match ODI series before this NZ-ENG series.

11 – Number of consecutive ODI wins while chasing for England. This is their longest winning streak while chasing in this format. England won ten in a row while chasing a target between 2003 and 2004.

58 – Balls Jonny Bairstow needed for completing his hundred. This is the 3rd fastest ODI century for England after Jos Buttler’s 46-ball ton against Pakistan in 2015 and Moeen Ali’s century in 53 balls against West Indies in 2017. Bairstow’s ton is also the fastest by an England opener as the previous fastest was off 72 balls by Moeen Ali in 2014 against Sri Lanka.

104 – Jonny Bairstow’s 104 is only the 3rd ODI century that came to an end via hit wicket. Faf du Plessis’ 126 against Australia in 2014 and Virat Kohli’s 107 against England in 2011 are the other two ODI century innings which ended via hit wicket. Bairstow also became the 2nd England player to be hit wicket after Owais Shah (40 vs Australia in 2009).

104 – England chased down the 224-run target with 104 balls to spare. This is England’s biggest win in terms of balls to spare during a 220+ ODI chase. They chased down 255 against Sri Lanka in 2016 with 95 balls to spare.

216 – Santner’s 216 runs in this series are the most for a player batting at No.8 and lower in an ODI series/tournament. Shahid Afridi aggregated 208 runs in the 2005 VB Series in Australia at No.8 and a lower position.