England beat New Zealand to complete clean sweep

Leeds, June 28: A dominant England swept New Zealand 3-0 in the test series with an aggressive seven-wicket victory in the third and final test on Monday. After the first session was washed out due to rain on the final day, England motored to 296-3 in the middle session after resuming on 183-2.

Joe Root (86 not out) and Jonny Bairstow (71 not out) flayed New Zealand bowlers at Headingley in a blistering 111-run stand as England cruised to the target in just over an hour on the fifth day.

Bairstow, whose masterful 162 lifted England from a precarious 55-6 in the first innings, played yet another aggressive knock as he registered England's second fastest-ever test half century off just 30 balls.

Bairstow finished off the game in style when he belted off-spinner Michael Bracewell for a four and a six in a superb 44-ball unbeaten knock.

New Zealand had started the day on a high when Tim Southee had Ollie Pope (82) clean bowled in the first over when play resumed after lunch.

But Bairstow once again exhibited his power-hitting prowess as he provided the new captain Ben Stokes and new coach Brendon McCullum a perfect start to their new roles.

England won the first test by five wickets at Lord's and then chased down 299 runs at Nottingham for a five-wicket win in the second test.

Morgan to retire 

England's World Cup-winning captain Eoin Morgan is set to retire from international cricket, with an official announcement expected as soon as Tuesday, according to the BBC.

Under Morgan, England won the 2019 50-over World Cup -- their first major global limited overs title -- and reached the top of the one-day and Twenty20 rankings.

But the 35-year-old Dublin-born batter has been struggling with form and fitness issues this year.

He was twice out for nought during the recent ODI series away to the Netherlands in Amstelveen and withdrew from the third match with a groin issue.

England face India in a three-match T20 international series starting on July 7, while the T20 World Cup in Australia begins in October.

If Morgan does indeed step down ahead of the 2023 50-over World Cup in India, vice-captain Jos Buttler would appear to be the favourite to replace him as England's white-ball skipper.

Morgan is England's leading run-scorer of all time in ODI and T20 cricket with 6,957 and 2,458 runs respectively. His tally of 225 ODIs and 115 T20Is is also an England record.

But he has made just two fifties from his past 28 international innings across the two white-ball formats. AP