England's hat-trick of 250 chases
England completed a clean sweep against New Zealand with successful chases in all three matches - 277 at Lord's, 299 at Trent Bridge and 296 at Headingley. It was the first time a team won chasing 250-plus targets in three successive Tests. It was also the first instance of a team winning three times while chasing 250-plus targets in a Test series.
England's chases at Trent Bridge and Headingley this series came at a run rate of 5.98 and 5.44 respectively, both being the fastest 250-plus chases in Test history.
The England-New Zealand series also became the first Test series with three successful chases of 250-plus targets by both teams involved. In fact, there has been only one previous instance of three 200-plus chases in a series - between Australia and West Indies in 1951-52, where the hosts won twice and the visitors once.
England's fast-scoring rates
England set new benchmarks with their scoring rates in this series as their run rate of 4.54 across the three matches was the highest for any team to have batted five or more times in a Test series. Their aggressive batting took over from the chase at Trent Bridge, where they scored 299 in only 50 overs, the second-fastest Test innings of 300-plus balls.
Their scoring rate in Headingley was quite close to a limited-overs game, as they scored 656 runs across both innings at 5.4, the highest run rate for any team in a Test match (with a minimum of 500-plus runs). England's run rates in Headingley were 5.37 and 5.44 respectively, both among the top seven fastest Test innings in terms of run rate.
Bairstow's mayhem
England's high scoring rates coincided with Jonny Bairstow's destruction in the last three innings of the series. Bairstow scored only 25 runs in the first three innings, but in the following three knocks, he registered the second-fastest fifty, the second-fastest century and the second-fastest 150 for England in Test cricket. England's run rate crept well over five in all three of those innings.
Bairstow finished the series with 394 runs at a strike rate of 120.12. It is by far the highest for any batter to have faced 300-plus balls in a series.
Ben Stokes is second on this list, scoring 411 runs at 109.01 against South Africa in 2016. Bairstow's strike rate is also the second-highest by any player with 300-plus runs in a series, behind only Shahid Afridi's 121.32 against India in 2006.
Mitchell stands tall
Daryl Mitchell was the star for the visitors with the bat on the England tour, scoring 538 runs, the most by a player in a three-match series for New Zealand. His tally was also the fourth-highest in a Test series for his country. His three hundreds on the tour were also a New Zealand record, equaling Andrew Jones and Ross Taylor.
Mitchell scored only 13 runs on the opening day of the series, but by scoring 50-plus in the remaining five innings, he became the first New Zealand batter with five consecutive 50-plus scores in Test cricket. Mitchell's 538 runs are also the second-highest by a batter in a series where their team got swept. Brian Lara holds the record, having scored 688 runs in their series defeat of 0-3 against Sri Lanka in 2001.
New Zealand's pair of hope
Tom Blundell played a crucial role in Mitchell's success with the bat, with long partnerships for the fifth and lower wickets throughout the series. The duo added 724 runs in six innings, the highest by any New Zealand pair in a Test series. They also became the first New Zealand pair to share four century stands in a series, and only the fifth pair overall.
They faced 1417 balls together, the second most by any pair in a Test series (where balls data is available).
Most of the runs scored by New Zealand in this series came from the partnerships of these two batters. They contributed 37.9% of New Zealand's series aggregate. Only one pair in a three-plus match series made a higher contribution to their team. Australia's Warren Bardsley and Charles Kelleway added 484 runs against South Africa in 1912, equivalent to 43.8% of the team's runs in the series.