Stand-in captain Brendon McCullum expressed great pride in New Zealand's host of newbies in the wake of Friday's easy triumph over Zimbabwe in the first ODI.

Going into the match with seven changes to their previous XI, including three debutants, the hosts romped to a 90-run triumph in Dunedin. While senior men Martin Guptill and Kyle Mills led the charge with a half-century and three wickets respectively, rookies Tom Latham, Dean Brownlie and Andrew Ellis and Rob Nicol, playing in just his fourth ODI, put together a fine all-round performance.

Guptill's 70 at the top of the knock was was well complemented by Ellis' 33, Latham's 24 and Brownlie's 19 down the order, with the Black Caps reaching 248 all out in 48.3 overs. In response, the Zimbabweans folded to 158 all out in 41.1 overs as Mills and Nicol orchestrated the damage.

Redeeming himself after falling for a duck earlier in the day, spinner Nicol finished with career-best figures of four for 19, including the key scalp of visiting captain Brendan Taylor for 58. Seamer Ellis, meanwhile, was responsible for ending a blossoming knock from Tatenda Taibu.

"We're lucky to have our bowlers bowling well. There is no holding them back, so I'm happy with that. These are healthy signs for the team," enthused McCullum, who temporarily taken over the captaincy reins in the absence of the injured Ross Taylor.

"We said we wanted to be ruthless, hit the ground running in the series - we have done that here. We wanted to give the new guys their chances - and we did that. The guys given the chances stepped up, which is pleasing. I'm happy with Rob Nicol's performance - he was outstanding,

"Batting-wise, well, 248 proved to be enough, but obviously we would have liked more. The pitch was tough at times. It seamed a bit, but it didn't swing as much as we thought it would."

The right-handed Guptill was named Man of the Match after sharing in a key stand with Kane Williamson, who weighed in with 35. The duo's 88-run alliance was pivotal in getting the New Zealanders back on track after Nicol and McCullum had departed early.

Striking nine fours during his 66-ball stay at the crease on Friday, the 25-year-old now sports an impressive 249 runs from his last three ODI knocks against Zimbabwe.

"I'm happy with the way things are going, but I always want more runs," said Guptill. "It was disappointing to get out the way I did, falling over to a straight ball. I would like to have reached a century. I've been working hard in the nets, trying hard, pushing forward."

Defeated captain Taylor acknowledged a decent bowling performance from his side but admitted the batting wasn't up to scratch. His knock of 58 was as good as it got in a total that would have proved considerably less had tail-enders Ray Price and Keegan Meth not added 34 for the ninth wicket.

"I thought we bowled well pretty well. That said, we still gave away too many boundary balls. The boys can hold their heads up high. We fielded with urgency, that pleases me," said Taylor.

"It's back to the drawing board in the batting department, while there are also some areas of improvement in the bowling. In the end, we were simply outplayed by a better side. The Black Caps bowlers don't give you much to work with. The boys put a price on their wickets regardless, did their best. Next time we will look to do better.

The second ODI gets underway in Whangarei on Monday.