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 fielding practice, 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.
Earlier Edwards found the boundary 13 times in her 51-ball knock, while Knight added 66 before being caught by Deanna Doughty.
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.
England remain at Mount Maunganui for the first three of five one-day internationals against New Zealand, with the series beginning on Wednesday.
You can follow England women’s tour to New Zealand by the following media:
Live scores and match reports on the ECB website : or on twitter: @ECB_cricket
