Opener Finn Allen has ridden his luck to score his fifth one-day international fifty, pacing New Zealand to 274 with the bat against Sri Lanka at Auckland's Eden Park.
After losing the toss and put into bat, the Blackcaps named Chad Bowes and Rachin Ravindra for ODI debuts, with the former sent out to open the innings with Allen.
Bowes struck a four off the first ball he faced, but was the first wicket to fall, when he skied a high catch to Dilshan Madushanka for 14, with the home side at 36/1 in the sixth over.
New Zealand found useful contributions from all their top order, without anyone carrying on to a truly dominant knock.
Allen needed some good fortune to bring up his half-century off 47 balls, including two sixes. In the third over of the day, he was beaten by Kasun Rajitha with a delivery that clipped the off-stump, without dislodging the bails.
He also survived a runout, with the end of his bat in the air, but the base barely grounded inside the crease, as he dove desperately to make his ground. One run past his milestone, his luck ran out, when he was caught by Rajitha off Chamika Karunaratne.
Fresh from his test heroics, Daryl Mitchell compiled 47 from 58 balls, but fell short of his fifty. Glenn Phillips and allrounder Rachin Ravindra put on 66 runs for the sixth wicket, before Phillips departed for 39.
New Zealand lost bowlers Henry Shipley and Matt Henry within three balls in a mini collapse at 240, but debutant Ravindra provided some stability to the lower order, before he holed out one run short of a maiden fifty.
The innings ended with four balls remaining, when Ish Sodhi skied the ball high off Rajitha and was taken by wicketkeeper Kusal Mendis.
The match doubles as a fundraising effort for communities impacted by Cyclone Gabrielle.
NZ 274 (Allen 51, Ravindra 49, Mitchell 47; Karunaratne 4/43) in 49.2 overs.
Sri Lanka need 275 to win
