England won the Auckland sixes contest 15-8 to ease into a 1-0 lead with two to to play against New Zealand after a record-breaking Twenty20 spectacle at Eden Park.
In more conventional scoring terms, but ones which barely seem appropriate at a venue whose curious dimensions distort short-format cricket far from the norm, England prevailed by 40 runs after matching the ground record with 214 for seven.
On a playing area with little more than a 60-yard carry at either end, England targeted the straight boundaries but thrashed plenty of other maximums to all parts, clearing the rope four times more than they ever have before in Twenty20s - and easily surpassing their previous highest score of 202 for six.
Luke Wright topped the sixes charts with four, and Eoin Morgan came closest to a half-century with 46.
Then Stuart Broad bagged a career-best haul of four for 24 as he and Steven Finn (three for 39) kept taking wickets to keep their team in a comfort zone even though Martin Guptill and Colin Munro returned fire with five sixes between them.
