Captain Emily Drumm admitted that New Zealand were short of the total they wanted, but it was enough for a 63-run victory over England in the tri-series final.

The White Ferns lost their first two wickets before registering a run and were eventually bowled out for 161, despite a half-century from Kate Pulford.

But they bounced back to dismiss their hosts for 98 with six overs remaining.

"We'd talked about a total of 180, but they took wickets and put us under pressure," Drumm admitted.

"That start put us on the back foot and we were made to work hard but we got a good total and backed ourselves."

Her counterpart Claire Connor admitted that England only did half of the job.

"We did well in the field and got half the game right but we had got to chase 160 and it was disappointing that we couldn't," she said.

The stars for England were Isa Guha, who took three for 28 in her sixth one-day international, and Laura Spragg, whose two for 31 included a wicket with her first ball.

"Laura and Isa bowled well but we've got to bat better," said Connor.

Pulford, whose 55 clinched her the player of the match award, paid tribute to a young side for fighting back from their bad start.

"We're a young side too - we're not the side that won the World Cup," she argued.

"We'll take the win but there are things we need to work on."