"Bairstow has more strike-rate than Kohli, Rohit in IPL; NZ's WTC win the biggest scam" - Fans go berserk as England whitewash New Zealand 3-0

Twitter reactions to Jonny Bairstow's carnage.
Twitter reactions to Jonny Bairstow's carnage.

Led by Jonny Bairstow's carnage, England thumped Kane Williamson's New Zealand by seven wickets at Headingley on June 27. Just over a year after the Kiwis won the inaugural World Test Championship final in Southampton, England completed a clean sweep of the three-Test series against them.

Having already registered emphatic five-wicket wins at Lord's and Trent Bridge, the hosts needed 113 runs with eight wickets in hand on Day 5 of the third Test to complete the white-wash. The match became slightly interesting when rain forced an early lunch at the start and a well-set Ollie Pope got out in the first over.

Bairstow and former skipper Joe Root ensured that it was the only moment of relief for the Kiwis. The duo strung together an unbelievable 111-run partnership in just 14.3 overs to blow away the attack comprising Trent Boult, Tim Southee, Neil Wagner and Michael Bracewell, with the spinner taking most of the thrashing.

Bairstow scored the second-fastest Test half-century for England off just 30 balls and, with a match-winning six, took his overall score to 71. As he brought out his inner T20 beast, Root cantered alongside him in ODI mode, remaining unbeaten on 86 (125), tantalizingly short of his 28th Test hundred.

Both concluded the series as the top scorers for England in the series - Root with 396 runs at an average of 99 and Bairstow with 394 runs at a strike rate of 120.12. This sits perfectly in what many are calling the "new era" of English cricket under new head coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes.

Fans and pundits on Twitter celebrated the performance in full fervor, reacting with hilarious memes, one-liners, and some brilliant statistics. Some even took potshots at the Kiwis for their WTC triumph.

Here are the best of the reactions:


"It was about changing the mindset" - Ben Stokes on Bairstow's and England's performance

Stokes attributed the 'special start' to his captaincy career to a change in attitude towards Test cricket from his players led by the support staff. He said (via Cricbuzz):

"To walk away with 3-0 series win over the best team in the world is a special start. When I took over this job, it was about changing the mindset of the guys towards Test cricket, was about having fun. Huge amount of credit to Brendon (McCullum) and the backroom staff."

England will now face WTC runners-up India in the rescheduled final Test of the 2021 five-match series, starting on July 1.

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