England delivered a touch of touché to New Zealand's familiar brand, dismissing them for 198 in 31.1 overs. The margin of victory was England's most in terms of runs in an ODI.
Jos Buttler's 129 from 77 balls and Joe Root's 104 off 78 helped deliver a Roman candle of an innings in complete contrast to their 123-run capitulation against the same opposition at the World Cup.
Captain Eoin Morgan's words at the pre-match media conference, that they had picked players to play a more attacking style, were reinforced by a juggernaut of action.
Short, wide pace bowling helped, as did several New Zealand dropped catches including two by Ross Taylor at long on and deep mid-wicket and one by captain Brendon McCullum running back from mid-off.
Buttler and Adil Rashid, with his ODI highest score of 69 from 50 balls, produced a world record 177-run seventh-wicket partnership which left the visitors' bowling stocks looking despondent and depleted.
Only Trent Boult with four wickets for 55 from his allotment had any genuine impact.
He was bowled out by the 33rd over, giving Buttler and Rashid the freedom to go forth and multiply.
Every other bowler went for more than seven runs per over. In the last 20 overs England scored 206 for three. The maths were simple.
Nathan McCullum temporarily stymied the attack when he was brought on in the fifth over and conceded three, but figures of none for 66 from seven overs indicate that was short-lived.
Similarly, debutant Mitchell Santner had figures of one for 16 at the end of his third over.
He finished with one for 64 from eight. Captain McCullum attempted to instill confidence by standing at silly point. Santner largely obliged by pitching up without fear for the consequences. The lbw of Sam Billings, via decision review, at least gave him a win in the contest between the debutants.
With Tim Southee rested due to tiredness after the tests, Mitchell McClenaghan and Matt Henry struggled to stem the cascade of runs going for 93 and 73 runs respectively.
New Zealand started in perfect fashion, dismissing opener Jason Roy with the first ball of the series - and his first in ODI cricket after his debut against Ireland last month was rained off before England batted. Boult pitched up outside off stump and Roy fed Martin Guptill at backward point.
It may have done England a favour. Root entered and made the third fastest century by an Englishman in an ODI, reaching the mark for the fifth time in this format.
The crowd launched into a chorus of 'Joe Root' in time to the Beatles' Hey Jude. However, his place in their collective heart was downgraded as Buttler brought up his milestone in 66 balls, second to his best of 61 balls against Sri Lanka last summer.
The chase for 8.18 runs per over was a cricketing Himalaya. New Zealand never reached base camp.
Kane Williamson (45 off 43), Ross Taylor (57 off 54) and Grant Elliott (27 from 24) all demonstrated form which could not be sustained.
England, led by leg spinner Adil Rashid with four for 55 from 10 overs, never looked like relinquishing their dominant position, which was hard-earned considering the match had been billed World Cup finalists versus World Cup flops.
There's now plenty to contemplate about the depth and the permutations as to where this series could go.
# Ford, the driving force behind the Black Caps
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