The White Ferns have bounced back with a comfortable nine-wicket victory over Bangladesh at the Cricket World Cup at Dunedin on Monday.
Brushing off the disappointment of their heartbreaking opening loss to West Indies, New Zealand were convincing with both bat and ball to record their first win of the tournament.
Chasing 141 to win the rain-reduced 27-over match, veteran opener Suzie Bates led the charge with a masterful undefeated 79 off 68 balls, surpassing 1000 World Cup runs along the way in front of her hometown crowd at University Oval.
She was joined by Melie Kerr (47no) in a 108-run partnership for the second wicket to guide the White Ferns past the finish line.
New Zealand lost just the solitary wicket of captain Sophie Devine in a match they simply had to win to keep their hopes of advancing to the knockout stages alive, with heavyweights Australia, England and South Africa awaiting them.
In an increasingly rare outing with the ball, Amy Satterthwaite was the best of the NZ bowlers, claiming 3/25 from her five-over spell. Frankie Mackay was also outstanding, taking a wicket and playing a hand in two runouts.
Bangladesh openers Shamima Sultana and Fargana Hoque got their side off to an encouraging start, punishing an NZ attack that struggled to find its length through the early overs.
The introduction of Kerr and Mackay into the attack immediately paid dividends, as the Bangladesh batters struggled to find the gap with the pace taken off the ball on a damp Oval pitch.
Satterthwaite then stepped up with a critical two-wicket over, snaring Nigar Sultana caught behind, before sneaking one past Rumana's inside edge to rattle the bails.
The momentum then swung heavily towards the hosts, with their spin attack putting the clamps on the Bangladesh batters.
Hoque raised a superb half century as the innings anchor, but was soon sent packing by a sharp run out by Mackay, who threw down the stumps off her own bowling.
Bangladesh ramped up their aggression through the final stages, but still struggled to find the boundary, as the White Ferns fielders put the pressure on with a string of runouts to restrict Bangladesh to 140/8.
The White Ferns' pursuit paced the fast start of Bangladesh early, before Bates and Kerr combined to ensure a straightforward chase.
They'll move on to face India - a side they beat 4-1 in a five-match one-day series during the tournament build-up - at Hamilton on Thursday.
Bangladesh 140/8 (Hoque 52, Sultana 33, Satterthwaite 3/25) NZ 144/1 (Bates 79no, A Kerr 47no, Khatun 1/34)
New Zealand win by nine wickets
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