New Zealand beat England in first women's one-day international

Suzie Bates was dropped by Lydia Greenway when she had scored 48

England lost the first game of their one-day international series as New Zealand captain Suzie Bates led the way with a century at Mount Maunganui.

Bates (106) and Rachel Priest (52) added 157 for the first wicket before spinner Heather Knight took 4-47 as the hosts made 240-8 from their 50 overs.

Knight and skipper Charlotte Edwards were then both run out as England made a stuttering start to their run chase.

The tourists were bowled out for 173 as New Zealand wrapped up a 67-run win.

While England will rue the fact that Bates was dropped on 48 by Lydia Greenway, usually their best fielder, their front-line bowlers failed to make an impression after Edwards won the toss and opted to field first on a green-tinged pitch.

Instead, it was vice-captain Knight - who only took up bowling her part-time off-spin in earnest last year - who recorded her best international figures and saved England from having to chase an even bigger total, finally breaking the Bates-Priest opening stand in the 31st over.

Left-arm spinner Rebecca Grundy, back from injury, also bowled tidily on her ODI debut, her 10 overs only costing 35 runs while bowling Kate Broadmore for her maiden wicket in this format.

Ex-England batter Ebony Rainford-Brent:

"England will be very disappointed with their performance today. They looked match-rusty - their shot selection, running between the wickets and fielding was poor. Fair play to New Zealand, they've done well in their own conditions but England are out of season and have looked a little undercooked. Perhaps they could have had more than one warm-up game."

Playing their first full international since September, England never really got going after those two early run-outs put the White Ferns firmly in charge.

England's top order struggled to build partnerships, collapsing to 98-6 as leg-spinner Erin Bermingham took a miserly 2-20 from 10 overs to put the squeeze on, while none of their batters passed 30.

Pace bowler Anya Shrubsole was their unlikely top scorer, hitting 29 from 19 balls which included four fours and a six.

Shrubsole and Danielle Hazell added 47 for the ninth wicket, but any hopes of a remarkable comeback were extinguished when Hazell became the third run-out victim of the innings.

"Three run-outs in an international's not great - we kind of eased into the game, which isn't ideal - but we need to stamp our authority on the next game from the start," Knight told BBC Sport.

"After the start we had, we did really well in the middle to bring it back and keep them to 240.

"Their spinners were hard to get away with pace off the ball, we faced a lot of dot balls in the middle so that's something we'll look at."

On her own spin bowling success, Knight joked: "I don't know when it's going to turn, so I don't think the batters do either! It's always nice to contribute and it's something I'll keep working on."

With the first three games of this five-match series counting towards the International Cricket Council's Women's Championship which determines qualification for the 2017 World Cup, England will be desperate to bounce back quickly when the sides meet again at the same venue on Friday.

Spinner Rebecca Grundy, with six Twenty20 international appearances under her belt, was making her ODI debut

After taking her best England bowling figures, Heather Knight was run out for 11