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New Zealand will go into tomorrow's opening ODI against England unchallenged as the second-best side so far in this contest.
This was not the way the script had it, wherein New Zealand were expected to be the superior limited-overs outfit; England the better bet for the test series to follow.
Having been well beaten at Eden Park on Tuesday in the opening Twenty20 contest, New Zealand were given a thorough duffing by 50 runs in Christchurch last night.
On a bleak night when a chilling easterly whistled round the ground, 18,000 watched England turn in a professional operation against opponents sorely in need of a tune-up.
Chasing a demanding 194, they were soon 19 for two - identical to Eden Park - before Ross Taylor banged a couple over the boundary only to play a dopey flat-bat lob to cover and it was downhill from there.
Four wickets fell in 21 balls, much of the innings matching the rubble which lies at the eastern side of the ground at present.
New Zealand trailed throughout, with no one able to do what man of the match Paul Collingwood and Owais Shah did so well in their match-winning partnership earlier in the night: improvise and back themselves with clean, thoughtful hitting.
England's successful innings was based around two significant partnerships, helped along by a generous helping of tripe from the New Zealand bowlers.
If the Kiwi attack learnt anything from watching England's bowlers doing the business at Eden Park on Wednesday it didn't show, save Tim Southee, who on last night's effort should be persuaded out of this month's world under-19 youth cup in Malaysia in favour of joining the full ODI squad.
He delivered three fine overs and one average one and generally bowled a good full length. Otherwise too often the batsmen were given the ideal length to get under the ball, and room to free the arms.
Phil Mustard and Luke Wright leapt into the New Zealand bowling like hungry kids seated in front of a table of hamburgers. Mustard in particular has a sharp eye and both gave the ball a bruising. Mustard got a six over third man from a leading edge but struck some classy blows.
The pair flew past 50 in 4.4 overs, the introduction of the luckless Paul Hitchcock further raising the tempo, his first over going for 22.
But then New Zealand got smart, and a bit lucky.
Martin, well off his best, yorked Wright with a good one; Kevin Pietersen missed a full toss shaping to hit to the onside and was rightly judged lbw; Ian Bell ran himself out in one of those "yes, no, oh, oh" moments; and Mustard was caught at long-on off a skier.
Four wickets in 16 balls and New Zealand were back in the frame.
But Collingwood and Shah provided the second surge from the England batsmen with a fine 102-run stand off 62 balls. They winged it at times, worked the gaps cleverly - Collingwood especially - and got some assistance from a pile of half trackers and other assorted nonsense just at a time New Zealand had the chance to tighten the screws.
Hitchcock was within a few metres of one of cricket's oddest hat tricks - Shah caught on the long-off fence; Collingwood - a quality 54 off 28 balls - caught at long-on, and Dimitri Mascarenhas would have been caught at third man had it not cleared the boundary by about six rows.
A night to swiftly forget, unless you're English.
