England beat New Zealand by three wickets on the Duckworth/Lewis Method to win the fifth one-day international at the Riverside and so take the series 3-2.
England, chasing a revised target of 192 in 26 overs collapsed to 45 for five, with left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner took three wickets for four runs in seven balls. But Yorkshire wicket-keeper/batsman Bairstow saw them to a three-wicket victory after England finishing on 192 for seven with six balls to spare.
Bairstow, only playing after first-choice keeper Jos Buttler suffered a hand injury, made his maiden ODI fifty. Together with Sam Billings (41), he turned the tide during a sixth-wicket stand of 80 in 57 balls. Bairstow and Yorkshire team-mate Adil Rashid (12 not out) then completed victory for a new-look England side with an unbroken stand of 54 balls.
It was all a far cry from the World Cup, where England suffered an embarrassing eight-wicket defeat by New Zealand. The aggregate number of runs scored by both teams - 3,151 - was a new record for a five-match ODI series, surpassing the 2,963 runs shared by India and Pakistan in 2003/04.
Having seen England leg-spinner Rashid get plenty of turn during New Zealand`s innings, Black Caps skipper Brendon McCullum took the unusual step of deploying Santner as one of his opening bowlers. Santner struck with his second ball when Alex Hales (one) was superbly caught by a leaping Kane Williamson at square leg to leave England eight for one. He then had Joe Root (four) stumped by Luke Ronchi despite the wicket-keeper initially fumbling the ball, which struck his chin, before completing the dismissal.
Ronchi needed prolonged treatment before the next ball saw England captain Eoin Morgan hole out for a duck, caught in the deep by Martin Guptill. Jason Roy survived the hat-trick but Ben Stokes (17) drove Ben Wheeler to McCullum at mid-off, to the disappointment of his Durham home crowd.
And when debutant Andrew Mathieson struck with his first ball, Roy (12) hanging his bat out at an away swinger before Guptill, running round from backward point, held the catch, England were in dire straits at 45 for five in the ninth over.
But Bairstow and Billings, who slog-swept Grant Elliott for a huge six, got England back into the match. Their partnership ended when Billings was well caught off a mishit pull off Matt Henry by a diving Ross Taylor at short mid-wicket, having faced just 30 balls with four fours. New Zealand then missed two chances to dismiss Bairstow. He was dropped on 39 by opposing keeper Ronchi after getting an inside edge off Ben Wheeler.
And he was missed again on 56 when Santner, albeit he was looking into the sun, fumbled a chance at third man following Bairstow`s uppercut off Henry.
That left England needing 39 more runs to win off 24 balls. Bairstow and Rashid got the target down to 17 off 12 balls, at which point drove struck Mathieson for two successive fours through the covers. And when Rashid late cut Mathieson for four, England required just four to win off eight balls. Bairstow, in blazing sunshine, sealed the win with a two off Mathieson.
Earlier, New Zealand made 283 for nine in their full 50 overs after losing the toss.
