NZ-born Ben Stokes has returned to haunt his country of birth - again - smashing 182 runs off 124 balls to guide England to a 181-run one-day victory over the Blackcaps at The Oval.
The allrounder came to the wicket with is side struggling at 13/2 in the third over and compiled a 199-run third-wicket partnership with Dawid Malan to restore the innings, before his teammate was caught behind by wicketkeeper Tom Latham, off the bowling of Trent Boult, for 96.
Stokes continued with his assault, taking England through to 348/6 in the 45th over, before a lower order collapse eventually saw the home side dismissed for 368 with 11 balls remaining in their allocated 50 overs.
His knock is the highest one-day score for England, surpassing Jason Roy's 180 against Australia at Melbourne in 2018.
As both teams prepare for the World Cup one-day tournament in India next month, Stokes' showing was a reminder of his heroics, when the two sides met in the final four years ago, with England emerging victors in a Super Over.
Test skipper Stokes had stepped away from the 50-over format, but recently returned in time for World Cup selection.
Boult provided the standout performance, securing his sixth five-wicket haul in one-day internationals, surpassing Sir Richard Hadlee's NZ mark. He had the prized scalp of England opener Jonny Bairstow with the very first ball of the match.
The Blackcaps were never on pace to reach the huge target. With the Finn Allen opening experiment officially over, Devon Conway and Will Young could only manage 18 runs in five overs for the first wicket, as the NZ top order failed to set a foundation to chase.
At 37/4 in the 11th over, too much was left to the middle order, but Glen Phillips was forced to pace his innings, scoring at less than a run a ball for his top score of 72 off 76. New Zealand were eventually all out for 187 after just 39 overs.
"We knew we had to bat well," said captain Tom Latham. "The way they bowled in the top 10 overs, getting movement in the air and off the surface, e weren't able to build partnerships."
The result gives England a 2-1 lead and all the momentum in the four-match series, after the tourists took the first encounter by eight wickets. The series decider is scheduled for Lord's on Friday/Saturday (NZ time).
England 368 (Stokes 182, Malan 96; Boult 5/51) New Zealand 187 (Phillips 72, Ravindra 28; Woakes 3/31, Livingstone 3/16)
England win by 181 runs, lead series 2-1
