Devon Conway and Daryl Mitchell of New Zealand celebrate during the 1st Metro Bank One Day International between England and New Zealand at Sophia Gardens on September 08, 2023 in Cardiff, Wales
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Devon Conway and Daryl Mitchell both hit unbeaten centuries and shared a partnership of 180 runs to steer New Zealand to a dominant eight-wicket win over England on Friday in their first meeting in a one-day international since the epic Cricket World Cup final at Lord’s in 2019.

Set 292 to win, the New Zealanders reached the target with 26 balls to spare at Sophia Gardens as Conway (111) and Mitchell (118) each struck their fourth ODI hundreds.

It’s the first of four matches in an ODI series between teams who will open the World Cup by playing each other in Ahmedabad on Oct. 5.

On this evidence, New Zealand is going into the tournament in better shape — and is on a three-match winning streak over England in limited-overs cricket after victories in the final two Twenty20 internationals of their series. That finished 2-2 on Tuesday.

“It’s certainly not the World Cup — for us it was a great opportunity as a group to play against a quality side,” Conway said. “We’ve got another three opportunities to do that.” Ben Stokes, who has opted to come out of ODI retirement ahead of England’s World Cup title defense in India, marked his return to the 50-over format by being one of four batters to post fifties on what appeared a tough track at first.

Stokes hit 52 after a quick knock of 54 from Dawid Malan, who was part of an emergency opening partnership with Harry Brook (25) because of injuries to Jonny Bairstow and Jason Roy. Brook has been controversially left out of England’s World Cup squad and was staking a claim for a late call-up.

New Zealand was on top after removing Joe Root for 6 to leave England 101-3 in the 21st over but Stokes and captain Jos Buttler, who was the top scorer with 72 off 68 balls on his 33rd birthday, steadied the innings with a partnership of 88.

Big-hitting Liam Livingstone weighed in with a lively 52 off 40, including three sixes, in a 77-run stand with Buttler before both fell to Tim Southee in the same over late on.

David Willey’s unbeaten 21 included a six down the ground off the last ball, and England seemed to have set a testing target.

Allrounder Rachin Ravindra had 3-48 off his 10 overs of spin.

New Zealand was always ahead of the run rate and batted with a great tempo. Opener Will Young — picked ahead of Finn Allen — hit 29 and Henry Nicholls 26 before Conway and Mitchell came together with the score at 117-2 and took England’s attack apart. Adil Rashid (1-70 in eight overs) came in for heavy punishment as he was smashed over the shorter boundaries by Mitchell especially.

Conway clinched the win with a straight six off Livingstone.

“We thought (England’s total) was slightly above par, actually,” Conway said. “The way Daryl came out was awesome. He really put his foot down, showed intent and then certainly made my job pretty easy at the other end.” Former England captain Andrew Flintoff was in Cardiff for the game. He was hospitalized in December after he suffered facial injuries in an accident while shooting for TV program “Top Gear” and has kept a low profile since.

The second ODI is in Southampton on Sunday.

England’s Ben Stokes, centre, reacts to a ball thrown back towards him, during a nets session at Sophia Gardens, in Cardiff on September 7, 2023, ahead of their one-day international cricket match against New Zealand on Friday.
| Photo Credit: AP

England and New Zealand are preparing to meet on the one-day international stage for the first time since their wild, never-to-be-forgotten Cricket World Cup final more than four years ago.

This time, it is in the calmer surroundings of a four-match series serving as a warmup for the World Cup starting in India next month.

Still, there’s plenty riding on it.

Just ask Harry Brook.

In a surprise and arguably premature selection, Brook — one of England’s most explosive batters — was left out of the provisional 15-man squad for the World Cup that was announced in mid-August. A preference for more versatile middle-order batters such as Dawid Malan and Liam Livingstone was the reason given by selector Luke Wright.

How Brook has made the team’s leadership squirm.

In his next three innings, he has smashed a 42-ball 105 not out in The Hundred competition before an unbeaten 43 and then 67 in the first two matches of the Twenty20 series against New Zealand.

It came as little surprise that England white-ball coach Matthew Mott suddenly left the door open to last-minute changes to the World Cup squad. Brook was added on Wednesday to the group for the ODI series against New Zealand starting in Cardiff on Friday.

In theory, he has been drafted in as cover, with Jonny Bairstow a doubt with pain in his right shoulder sustained in the fourth T20 against New Zealand, won by the tourists to tie the series at 2-2.

A couple of others might be sweating on World Cup places, too. Malan appears the most vulnerable of the specialist batters, while the form of allrounder Liam Livingstone — as big a hitter as Brook, but less reliable — has started to come under scrutiny.

Ben Stokes, who is back in the ODI team after reversing his decision to retire from the 50-over format, had some glowing words for Brook on Thursday, further enhancing his case for World Cup selection.

“Harry has been in incredible form over the last 18 months in all formats for England,” said Stokes, who captains Brook in England’s test team. “Everyone is aware of how good a player he is.

“It’s obvious he is going to be around every England squad for the next 5-10 years so it’s good to see him now transitioning his form that we’ve seen in the whites to the colors for England.”

Without naming names, Stokes said some players will feel under pressure for their places going into this series.

“That’s the reality of being in a very strong team — and we are a very strong team, we know that,” he said. “Competition for places is the best possible thing for us as individuals and as a team. I’m sure a lot of final decisions will potentially be made around some of the form that the lads show in the series.”

Stokes hasn’t played since the Ashes and therefore since he was enticed back to ODIs by the prospect of winning back-to-back World Cups, having played a huge role in that victory over New Zealand at Lord’s four years ago.

“The closer and closer it got,” he said, “I started thinking differently about (being retired from ODIs), and going to India and trying to defend the World Cup was obviously a big reason for saying I’m available for selection.”

New Zealand doesn’t name its World Cup squad until Monday, and the team had good news this week when captain Kane Williamson was declared fit enough to be included after injuring his knee in the Indian Premier League.

Williamson has made sufficient progress in his recovery, although he may not be fit enough to play New Zealand’s first match of the tournament.