New Zealand struck hard and struck early to beat Scotland by three wickets and become the first team to notch two World Cup wins.

Playing their first game of the tournament, the Scots never recovered from a devastating spell of new-ball bowling from Trent Boult and Tim Southee as they stumbled to 142 off 36.2 overs.

The Black Caps did some stumbling of their own as they flew to 7-146 in the 25th over. Kane Williamson top-scored with 38.

Despite the late staggers, it maintains New Zealand’s momentum following a 98-run win over Sri Lanka at Christchurch, setting up a showdown with England in Wellington on Friday.

Trent Boult justified his mammoth IPL pay cheque, taking two wickets from his first two legitimate deliveries on a University Oval pitch which offered early life.

The Scots plunged to 4-12 as Boult (2-21) and Southee (2-35) bowled to attacking fields featuring up to five players in the slips cordon.

They removed three of the top five batsmen for golden ducks, all trapped lbw. Four batsmen in total fell on their first ball.

When Boult got full deliveries to thud into the pads of opener Calum MacLeod and Hamish Gardiner it would have been a welcome sight for management at Indian Premier League side Hyderabad, who bid $814,000 for his services at the IPL auction on Monday.

Matt Machan (56) and Richie Berrington (50) put on 97 for the fifth wicket but their departures resulted in a tumble of wickets courtesy of Daniel Vettori (3-24) and Corey Anderson (3-18).

An efficient Scottish bowling effort troubled New Zealand, who were in a hurry to knock off the runs and lost wickets at regular intervals.

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 catches in the deep as the Black Caps took unnecessary risks while never looking likely to fall short of the target.

It was a surprise when the composed Williamson fell to seamer Josh Davey (3-40), while Grant Elliott’s 29 proved important as Ross Taylor, Corey Anderson and Luke Ronchi all lofted shots into the hands of boundary-riding fielders.

Earlier New Zealand sprang two surprises.

They defied most predictions by naming an unchanged team and then captain McCullum decided to bowl first after winning the toss.

That decision prompted an audible moan from the 4684-strong crowd hoping to see the hosts pile on some runs.