At Sir John Davies Oval, Queenstown: New Zealand 365-4 (Suzie Bates 108 from 104, Bernadine Bezuidenhout 86 from 86, Melie Kerr 83 off 69, Sophie Devine 70 off 36) beat Pakistan 234 from 49.5 overs (Sidra Ameen 105 off 117, Muneeba Ali 44 off 48; Kerr 3-44, Lea Tahuhu 2-45) by 131 runs.

Toss: Pakistan elected to field

Runs, runs and more runs, and a series-opening ODI win against Pakistan in Queenstown on Tuesday.

That’s just what the doctor ordered after the humbled White Ferns suffered a historic T20 series defeat to the tourists this month.

Short on runs in the T20s, the top-order delivered big time en route to a 131-run win at Sir John Davies Oval on a blustery and cool day in the resort town.

Opener Suzie Bates led New Zealand’s charge to a List A record 365-4, feasting on an erratic bowling attack en route to her 13th ODI ton.

Pakistan made a good fist of the mammoth chase initially, going at a decent clip and reaching 100 without loss after just 17.1 overs.

However, after captain Sophie Devine removed opener Muneeba Ali (44 off 48) with a bouncer, the runs stopped flowing and the Kiwis shared the wickets around to dismiss the visitors for 234 with a ball to spare.

New Zealand’s top-four looked at ease from the start against Pakistan’s spin-heavy attack, which was guilty of offering up a plethora of boundary balls.

In fact, they might as well have fetched a permanent marker and scribbled “hit me” on the ball before dishing up a bevy of deliveries asking for it.

Their attack was especially guilty of bowling too short on a wicket which offered very little turn to their finger spinners, allowing the batters to rock back and pick their spot.

No wonder there were plenty of hands on hips and heads, then, as Bates and Bernadine Bezuidenhout put on 165 runs for the opening wicket.

Both thrived square of the wicket, taking advantage of the sizeable boundaries by picking the gaps and keeping the scoreboard ticking over when they weren’t finding the rope.

Bezuidenhout was all class on her way to her highest career score (86) – her previous best was 43 – and looked destined to reach triple-figures before she struck one to mid-off and was runout after Bates sent her back.

But Bates, who probably would have made it home had she taken off on Bezuidenhout’s call, made up for it by kicking on with No 3 Melie Kerr.

Already involved in 30 100-run stands in her career, she and Kerr added 82 for the third wicket, ensuring there was no reprieve for the wayward visitors.

Speaking of wayward, Kerr copped a stray throw to the back of her head while running between the wickets, causing a delay in play while she was checked over.

Having remained down for a while, Kerr was eventually cleared and went on to score 83 and share a 107-run stand (59 balls) with Devine.

Kerr had the best view in the house for Devine’s six-hitting blitz – she hit half a dozen maximums in the space of seven balls – en route to a rapid 70 from 36.

It should never have happened. But Fatima Sana made a hash of a caught and bowled chance when Devine was on 20, inexplicably not getting close to a ball that essentially went straight up.

The big moment

Pakistan were doing it easy with willow in hand. That is until Devine dug in a bouncer and removed Ali to snap the 110-run opening stand, drying up the runs and dooming their chase.

Best with the bat

Bates made it look all too easy after New Zealand were sent in, particularly thriving square of the wicket against an attack guilty of bowling too short.

In addition to striking 11 boundaries, Bates also expertly punched the ball into gaps and never let the bowlers settle.

Best with the ball

Tahuhu and Kerr picked up some late wickets, but it was left-arm spinner Fran Jonas who played a big hand in stemming the runs with a tidy spell (1-33 from 10) on a batter-friendly surface.

The big picture

The White Ferns needed this. Now 14-1 against Pakistan all-time, they’re firmly in the box seat ahead of Friday’s second match in Christchurch.