The White Ferns have cruised to an eight-wicket victory in their one-day international series opener against Bangladesh at Wellington on Sunday.
After Bangladesh won the toss and elected to bat, the Kiwi women restricted them to a modest total of 180/8, with Jess Kerr bowling her way to match-best figures of 4/23.
Despite losing star batters Sophie Devine and Amelia Kerr in consecutive deliveries early, the Ferns' chase never genuinely looked in peril.
Opener Suzie Bates anchored the pursuit with a magnificently composed and undefeated 93 off 91 balls, combining with Maddy Green (59no) in a 131-run partnership to ease the White Ferns home with 19 overs to spare.
The tourists made an inauspicious start to the contest, with spinner Jess Kerr claiming a pair of wickets inside the first two overs to put them on the back foot.
Nigar Sultana (73) and Sharmin Akhter (29) dug in to try and rebuild the Bangladesh innings, occupying the crease but struggling to put any pressure on the NZ bowling attack.
Some sharp fielding by the hosts saw a slew of wickets tumble in the latter stages of the innings, with a trio of runouts crushing any Bangladesh momentum, resulting in a total that was never likely to trouble the Ferns.
The teams now head to Napier for the second match of the series on Wednesday.
