However, they will arrive in Whangarei this afternoon for Monday's second ODI feeling a bit better about things. This was far from the complete shellacking of the test defeat in Napier last week.
Captain Brendon Taylor talked before the game of the need to silence the critics in the wake of the awful test loss in Napier. To a degree have done that but much more will be needed to seriously threaten New Zealand.
New Zealand's innings was a mix, a point acknowledged by captain Brendon McCullum last night.
"If you look at the result you'd say it was clinical. If you look at some of the nuances of the game there were some rough edges that need to be smoothed out," he said.
It began badly, Rob Nicol and McCullum departing inside the first eight deliveries.
There were useful partnerships along the way but not consistently.
Martin Guptill, who is in a purple patch of form, dealt in boundaries for a time and oversaw an 88-run stand with Kane Williamson.
However Guptill, with a century seemingly his for the taking, somehow missed a ball from medium pacer Elton Chigumbura at 70.
By this time 19-year-old Tom Latham was in the middle on debut.
It took him eight balls to get off the mark, with a crisp square drive - that had proud father and former international Rod with a grin from ear to ear on the grass bank and giving a discreet little fist pump.
Tom Latham played one crashing sweep to the fence and generally looked the part.
The other debutant, Andrew Ellis, added brisk runs at No8, putting on 57 at run-a-ball rate with Nathan McCullum and later bowled tidily too.
Dean Brownlie had his first ODI outing too, after appearing in test and T20 action.
However, Ellis' dismissal at 223 triggered a slump, with the last four wickets falling for 25 in six overs.
Some of New Zealand's batting did not seem as firmly switched on to the job as it might have been, and that surely would be one of McCullum's rougher aspects of the day.
Zimbabwe's bowlers stuck to the job. Seamer Kyle Jarvis was impressive, Chigumbura and Shingi Masakadza persistent and in Masakadza's case well-rewarded with four wickets and best ODI figures. Dismissing New Zealand for less than 250 was a good piece of work.
But Zimbabwe were unable to capitalise. Kyle Mills, back leading the ODI attack after a solid HRV Cup campaign, was on the job from the start, bagging an encouraging three wickets.
While Taylor, on whom so many of Zimbabwe's hopes rest, and Tatenda Taibu were adding 52, the flame flickered.
Taylor, having completed his 25th ODI 50, struck the day's only six, a monstrous blow off spinner Rob Nicol which cleared the stand at wide long on.
But he holed out to long off next ball, and at 97 for five, that was effectively that.
Nicol snared four wickets, his best ODI return, and some compensation for his duck at the start of the day.
Expect the other uncapped pair, Auckland seamer Michael Bates and Central Districts' legspinner Tarun Nethula to debut in Whangarei, asfuture planning takes another step forward.
