The Silver Ferns overcame a slow start and an unfamiliar line-up to outplay Malawi 70-32 in the first of three Tests in Wellington on Thursday.
The Silver Ferns earned a cautious pass mark from coach Waimarama Taumaunu despite a hesitant start.
Captain Casey Kopua warmed the bench, new cap Te Huinga Reo Selby-Rickit taking over at goal defence with Leana de Bruin at goalkeeper and circle defender Katrina Grant stretching her legs on the wing.
Evergreen shooter Irene van Dyk, who missed the last two Tests against Australia, combined with Jodi Brown in the shooting circle and crafted strong 20-goal efforts in the second and fourth quarters.
"We took a little while to settle into our rhythm - that line made a few errors right at the start," Taumaunu said afterwards.
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
"But they pulled themselves back in that second quarter and fourth quarter."
Taumaunu delivered on her promise to showcase some new-look combinations in the shake-down to next year's Glasgow Commonwealth Games.
The new defensive combination took most of the first quarter to establish any real dominance, and the Silver Ferns edged away in the last few seconds to lead 14-10 at the break.
Centre Laura Langman and wing attack Shannon Francois battled back from a ragged start and began to combine smoothly with Brown and van Dyk in working the circle efficiently.
An on-going supply of intercepts and turnovers was converted efficiently into goals as New Zealand took a 34-18 lead into halftime.
Malawi stemmed the glut of goals somewhat in the third spell but the New Zealanders still eased out to lead 50-27 at the three-quarter mark before winding up with a 20-goal final quarter to round out the win.
Malawi's patient possession-based brand of netball caused few problems for the Kiwis, who kept pressuring the pass and forcing turnovers.
"We'd talked about the holding of possession and taking it right back out into the goal third, and I thought we got a bit of ball from that," Taumaunu said.
"Once we were all on the same page and put a good man-to-man press right on them, I thought we were reasonably effective."
Goal shoot Mwai Kumwenda, signed with Canterbury Tactix for next season's trans-Tasman league, showed her class in sinking 24 of her 28 attempts, but lacked the support and supply to really test the Kiwis.
The second Test is in Napier on Sunday, with the third in Hamilton four days later.
