The Black Caps have hammered Bangladesh in the first one day international at Dunedin's University Oval today, cruising to an eight-wicket victory to take a one-nil lead in the three-game series.
It was a gloomy day in the Otago capital, and it only got gloomier for the Bangladesh, as they struggled to 131 all-out after being sent in to bat.
The touring side were suffocated by a relentless New Zealand bowling attack, led by the swing and guile of Trent Boult, who finished with figures of four for 27 from just under nine overs.
He was well supported by Mitchell Santner (two for 23), Jimmy Neesham (two for 27) and Matt Henry (one for 26), as the Black Caps dominated proceedings from start to finish.
Bangladesh needed to make early inroads to stand a chance at taking anything from the game, but it was not to be, Martin Guptill and Henry Nicholls eager to chase down the target as quickly as possible.
The pair had put on 54 in just over five overs, Guptill continuing where he left off in the recently-concluded T20 series against Australia, before he fell for a 19-ball 38.
That brought debutant Devon Conway to the crease, the Wellington left-hander given the chance to fill Kane Williamson's number three role after the latter was ruled out due to injury.
He battled to 27 before being dismissed, playing a poor shot for a player of his calibre.
It was not going to deny New Zealand victory, as they cruised to an eight-wicket win with nearly 30 overs remaining.
Fellow debutant Will Young finished off the run chase with a quickfire 11, while Nicholls also remained not out with a steady 49.
Captain Tom Latham said after the game the plan was to go out and "set the tone" for the series.
"As a bowling unit it was pretty clinical," Latham said.
"For us to chase 130 in 20-odd overs was awesome. It was a pretty clinical performance all-around."
There were not many positives for the visitors to take away from the heavy defeat, but there were pleasing signs from pace bowler Taskin Ahmed and young spinner Mahedi Hasan.
Skipper Tamim Iqbal said there were too many soft dismissals from his side, and plenty to improve on ahead of the second ODI in Christchurch on Tuesday.
"No doubt they bowled extremely well, but I think we played some loose shots," Tamim said.
"We take a lot of pride in our batting and that didn't click. 130 on that wicket was nowhere near enough so we hope to find out the mistakes and don't repeat them in the next game.
"We had our preparation so I cannot really complain about all those things. This is not very new to us, we have been coming to New Zealand quite often. We know what to expect and we hope to put on a better show [on Tuesday]."
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