England were put to the sword as unbeaten hundreds from Devon Conway and Daryl Mitchell helped New Zealand to victory in the first of four World Cup dress rehearsals at a sultry Sophia Gardens.
Ben Stokes marked his ODI return with a resolute 52 off 69 balls, with Dawid Malan, Jos Buttler and Liam Livingstone also posting half-centuries as the hosts racked up 291 for six after batting first.
An England line-up shorn of the rested Mark Wood, Sam Curran and Moeen Ali lacked a cutting edge with the ball to stop a devastating onslaught from Conway and Mitchell, whose unbroken 180-run stand in 152 deliveries sealed a comprehensive eight-wicket win with 4.2 overs to spare.
Conway was immovable at the top of the order after struggling in the drawn T20 series and finished on 111 not out from 121 balls while Mitchell was imperious in his unbeaten 118 from 91 deliveries, bludgeoning seven sixes to accelerate New Zealand’s push for victory.
This was the first ODI between the teams since the dramatic 2019 World Cup final – they will also contest this year’s tournament opener in Ahmedabad on October 5 – and they laid down a marker in Cardiff.
Jos Buttler top-scored for England with 72 off 68 balls while Malan and Livingstone had decent days, given their places have come under scrutiny with Harry Brook pushing for inclusion at the World Cup.
England’s cautiousness over Jonny Bairstow’s shoulder niggle and Jason Roy succumbing to a back spasm on Friday morning meant Brook was parachuted into an unfamiliar role in opening the batting alongside Malan, who dominated an 80-run stand in 15 overs with a fluent 54 off 53 balls.
Brook is seeking to force England into a rethink over their World Cup squad after his initial omission and, having been called up late for these warm-ups, he tickled his first ball opening in List A cricket fine for a boundary while Malan settled with six lusty driven fours in the space of 18 deliveries.
Ravindra put the brakes on as Malan was castled via his pad and Brook departed for a pedestrian 25 after his glove was brushed attempting to fend off a brute of a bouncer from Lockie Ferguson, who produced a similar delivery to Stokes first up only for the ball to loop over Glenn Phillips at gully.
Joe Root made a scratchy six in his first ODI innings since July last year before top-edging a slog sweep to Mitchell in the ring off Ravindra, who conceded just eight runs in four overs before being hoisted over the shorter, straight boundary in an early demonstration of Buttler belligerence.
But England’s decision to select the extra bowler perhaps led to Stokes and Buttler reining in their attacking instincts, accumulating steadily in echoes of their 2019 World Cup final partnership.
There were only seven boundaries in their 88-run union, the last of them when Stokes joined Buttler in going past fifty by heaving a six to go with his three fours before clubbing Ravindra to cover.
Ravindra ended his spell by being taken the distance by Buttler, while Livingstone crashed three sixes in a row off the expensive Kyle Jamieson en route to 52 off 40 balls. But that did not light the touchpaper as the pair were undone within three balls of each other by Tim Southee off-cutters.
England added 89 runs in the last 10 overs, finishing with a flourish as David Willey ended a cameo 21 not out from 11 balls with a towering six, but their fast bowlers were under the pump in the reply.
New Zealand’s openers raced to 61 after the powerplay – with Reece Topley leaking 17 in his second over – but Adil Rashid struck immediately, producing drift in then spin away to bowl Will Young for 29.
However, cramp restricted the Yorkshireman to a spell off the field while Gus Atkinson waited until the 16th over for his first bowl in ODIs and lacked the impact he had in T20s as one of seven bowlers used by Buttler.
After three single-figure scores in the T20s before being dropped for the series-levelling win in Nottingham, Conway returned to form in spectacular fashion, handling England’s array of bowlers with ease.
Conway was particularly proficient through cover but deferred big-hitting responsibilities to Mitchell, who dispatched Atkinson and Livingstone for straight sixes while there were also meaty pulls for four off Topley and Chris Woakes.
Conway was first to his ton, while Mitchell thumped Rashid for six-four-six to hasten New Zealand’s charge. The one-way traffic continued as New Zealand wrapped up victory in a hurry.
Pakistan thrash Zimbabwe behind Ayub ton to level ODI series
Saim Ayub made a 53-ball century and Abrar Ahmed took four wickets on debut as Pakistan trounced Zimbabwe by 10 wickets to level the teams' ODI series at 1-1 on Tuesday.
Having lost a rain-hit opener by DLS method on Sunday, Pakistan raced to victory in the second match in Bulawayo, thanks in part to a brilliant display of spin bowling.
New boy Abrar was the pick of the bunch among their attack, finishing with figures of 4-33, while Salman Agha took 3-26 as the hosts were skittled for 145 runs within 33 overs.
Dion Myers top-scored for Zimbabwe with just 33 before being trapped lbw by Salman, with five home batters not even reaching double figures as their innings unravelled.
Any hopes that Pakistan's Sunday struggles might reappear were swiftly eradicated when the tourists took up the bat, with Ayub (113) teaming up with fellow opener Abdullah Shafique (32) for an unbeaten stand of 145.
Ayub smashed Sikandar Raza's delivery for four to get Pakistan over the line in just over 18 overs, making Thursday's final ODI a series decider.
The teams will then face off in three T20Is, with the opening match of that series, which is also being staged entirely in Bulawayo, set for Sunday.
Data Debrief: Ayub the best of the rest
Ayub's century was the fastest ODI hundred ever made by a Pakistan player excluding the legendary Shahid Afridi.
The latter's record stands at 102 off 37 balls against Sri Lanka in 1996, while he also hit a 45-ball ton against India in 2005.
Greaves hits unbeaten ton as West Indies dominate Bangladesh
Justin Greaves hit an unbeaten century – his first red-ball ton – as West Indies ended day two of their first Test against Bangladesh with a commanding 410-run lead.
Greaves resumed alongside Joshua Da Silva with West Indies 250-5 after day one in Antigua, eventually slamming 115 runs off 206 balls faced as the hosts established a dominant position.
His steady knock ensured the Windies recovered nicely after slipping to 261-7 early on, while Kemar Roach hit a career-best 47 through four defiant hours at the crease.
Hasan Mahmud took three day-two wickets for Bangladesh, including that of Roach, as his short delivery angled in to clip the top of middle stump.
Windies skipper Kraigg Brathwaite declared to put Bangladesh at the crease late on, and there was no respite for the tourists against the hosts' four-man pace attack.
Zakir Hasan fell to Jayden Seales for 15, while Mahmudul Hasan Joy edged Alzarri Joseph for five shortly after being dropped, leaving Bangladesh 40-2 at stumps.
Data Debrief: Career-best for Greaves
Greaves' unbeaten 115 marked his first century in Test cricket, surpassing his previous best knock – a score of 33 versus Australia in January – by some distance.
His strike rate of 55.83 on Saturday, while steady, also bettered his effort of 55.00 during that match in Brisbane. Thanks to his efforts, Bangladesh have a real mountain to climb on day three.
Inglis hails 'hard to stop' Stoinis after ruthless knock
Josh Inglis lauded "hard to stop" Marcus Stoinis as Australia signed off their T20I series against Pakistan in style, claiming a whitewash.
The hosts raced to a seven-wicket victory with almost nine overs remaining in Monday's third match.
After Australia's bowlers had limited Pakistan to just 117 runs, Stoinis ensured they signed off their final white-ball assignment in style, with his unbeaten 61 doing the damage.
Only twice has he bettered that knock in T20Is – versus New Zealand in 2021 (78) and against Oman at the World Cup earlier this year (67*).
"It's been a great week. We've had a lot of fun as a group," Inglis said. "It's been really nice.
"When Stoinis is going like that, he is really hard to stop. One of those sixes was probably the biggest I've ever seen!"
Stoinis, who was named player of the match, added: "Nice to score some runs on a beautiful wicket but credit to the bowlers who kept the total down.
"Yeah, I actually told [Haris] Rauf that this is the first time any of us got the better of him! No, he's a brilliant bowler, bowled well this series."
During their white-ball tour, Pakistan won the ODI series, their first time doing so in Australia in 22 years, but got whitewashed in the T20Is.
Despite the heavy loss, captain Agha Salman chose to focus on the positive effect the experience will have on their young players.
"I think in the middle overs, we didn't capitalise on the start," he said. "But lots of positives.
"The way Usman [Khan] batted, the way Jahandad [Khan] bowled. These youngsters will come good.
"It's obviously a big achievement winning the ODI series, but we could have done much better in the T20Is."
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