Charlotte Edwards led from the front as England women dominated their warm-up match against Northern Spirit to start their tour of New Zealand in positive fashion.
Skipper Edwards retired out on 75 after sharing a partnership of 125 for the first wicket with Heather Knight in just 17 overs.
The opening pair took advantage of some wayward bowling at the Bay Oval to send England towards a total of 342 for nine from their 50 overs.
Rebecca Grundy then took three wickets on her return to international duty following a groin injury as Northern Spirit were reduced to 109 for seven from 35 overs.
In order to give England some meaningful practice in the field, a scrimmage chase of 80 runs from 15 overs with three wickets available was agreed, and the tourists prevailed by 17 runs as they bowled out their opponents for 63 with eight deliveries to spare.
Captain Charlotte Edwards has retired on 75 off just 17 overs against Northern Spirit #EngWomenhttps://t.co/Sj7PkaIpSv
— England Cricket (@ECB_cricket) February 6, 2015
Earlier Edwards found the boundary 13 times in her 51-ball knock, and Knight added 66 before being caught by home captain Nat Dodd.
England’s middle order then handed out some cheap wickets, but Katherine Brunt smashed a quick-fire fifty and Jenny Gunn added 41 to post a formidable-looking total.
Brunt then kept things tidy with the ball to take 1-8 from four overs, before Grundy’s left-arm spin ripped through the Northern Spirit line-up.
Edwards, who has been playing for Western Australia Women this winter, said: “It’s always nice to start a tour well and to do it in the fashion we did today was very pleasing. To score 340 runs and obviously bowl as well as we did, I’m delighted with the start.
#EngWomen close on 342-9, Brunt out off the last ball of the innings for an entertaining 56 off 42 balls https://t.co/qi5CYQlUnl
— England Cricket (@ECB_cricket) February 7, 2015
“It’s been nice to have been playing all winter in Australia and it’s been nice to carry that form over to here. It was a lovely wicket and a quick outfield. (I’m) just pleased with the tempo of the innings and getting that amount of runs, and how Katherine finished the innings for us at the end there was fantastic.”
Brunt, normally a specialist bowler who put on 85 for the eighth wicket with Gunn, said: “I’m getting quite a lot of all-rounder chat today. It’s actually quite nice. I never thought I’d see the day.
“It’s nice to have the chance to be able to bat. A lot of the time we come in – nine, 10 and 11 – and our job is to get a few boundaries in a really short space of time. So it’s nice to have someone in there with me from the top order and have time to knock it around and get yourself in.”
England remain at Mount Maunganui for the first three of five one-day internationals against New Zealand, the opening trio counting towards World Cup qualification, with the series beginning on Wednesday.