Opener Rob Nicol smashed 146 and allrounder Jacob Oram hounded Zimbabwe mercilessly with bat and ball as New Zealand cruised to a 141-run win in the second one-day match in Whangarei.
Set an imposing target of 373 for victory at Cobham Oval on Monday, Zimbabwe wilted early under a barrage of accurate Black Caps bowling but managed to bat out their overs in reaching 8-231.
The result put New Zealand 2-0 up in the three-match series after they cruised to a 90-run win in the first game in Dunedin last Friday.
The Zimbabwe innings mirrored their performance with the bat three days ago. Going into the eighth over they were 3-17 as Tim Southee removed opener Hamilton Masakadza for five, then Kyle Mills accounted for Stuart Matsikenyeri and captain Brendan Taylor in quick succession.
Oram, in imperious form with the bat earlier as he belted 59 off just 28 balls, also chipped in with the ball in collecting a healthy 3-29 off his 10 overs.
He trapped Regis Chakabva plumb in front to further deepen Zimbabwe’s woes at 4-35 in the 14th over, removed Malcolm Waller for 18 in the 20th over, then bowled top-scorer Elton Chigumbura for 63 in the 40th over.
The vastly experienced Tatenda Taibu dug deep but was eventually removed by part-time offspinner Nicol two balls after making his 50, caught at long-off by Tarun Nethula.
Sent in to bat, New Zealand’s 6-372 was anchored by a superb 146 off 134 balls from Nicol, the fifth-highest international one-day score by a New Zealander.
It was his second ODI century in just his fifth match and included 10 fours and six sixes.
Nicol featured in two pivotal partnerships during his innings: a 131-run opening partnership with Martin Guptill, who continued his golden run with 77 off 80 balls, and a 92-run effort with youngster Tom Latham at the tail-end of the innings.
Latham racked up 48 from 28 balls before he was bowled by Shingirai Masakadza with just three balls remaining in the innings.
Spinner Prosper Utseya was the best of the Zimbabwe bowlers with 3-71 off 10 overs.