Scotland captain Preston Mommsen reckons they have exposed the first chinks in New Zealand’s World Cup armour despite losing their pool game in Dunedin.

The Black Caps made surprisingly hard work of victory after dismissing the Scots for 142 from 36.2 overs at University Oval.

Trying to knock the target off quickly almost backfired on New Zealand but they did enough to reach 7-146 inside 25 overs.

While they were never truly threatened, No.11 and man of the match Trent Boult admits pulse rates started to pick up in the team room.

“It got a little bit scarier than we wanted it to,” he said.

“If I’m rushing around at the end trying to chuck some pads on, it means we might be in a little bit of trouble.

“But we got the job done so, pretty satisfying.”

Boult, whose exploits with the new ball set up victory, didn’t agree with Mommsen’s comments.

The Scotland skipper was proud of their fight in the field and believes they could have snatched victory if they hadn’t shelled a couple of outfield chances.

“It showed that their batters are vulnerable if you’re able to keep them under pressure consistently,” he said.

“At the same time, chasing that small total might have been a little bit tricky for them and it might have changed the way their natural game would usually be.”

Openers Martin Guptill (17) and Brendon McCullum (15) both snicked paceman Iain Wardlaw (3-57), giving wicketkeeper Matt Cross the first of his four catches.

The other dismissals were caught in the deep as the Black Caps took unnecessary risks.

It was a surprise when top-scorer Kane Williamson fell for 38 to seamer Josh Davey (3-40), while Grant Elliott’s 29 proved important as Ross Taylor, Corey Anderson and Luke Ronchi all lofted shots straight to boundary-riding fielders.

New Zealand’s second win of the tournament following Saturday’s defeat of Sri Lanka was set up by the early pace and movement of Boult (2-21) and Tim Southee (2-35).

After being sent in, Scotland plunged to 4-12, with three of top five batsmen dismissed lbw for golden ducks.

Boult trapped Calum McLeod and Hamish Gardiner with his first two legitimate deliveries while Southee’s early victims were Kyle Coetzer and Mommsen before Matt Machan (56) and Richie Berrington (50) put on 97 for the fifth wicket.

Their departures triggered a tumble of wickets courtesy of Daniel Vettori (3-24) and Corey Anderson (3-18).

New Zealand fielded an unchanged team, sparking speculation they will do the same in their next game, against England in Wellington on Friday.