Devon Conway revelled in his return to New Zealand's T20I squad, saying he felt "great" after their win over Zimbabwe on Friday.
Ahead of their Tri-Series, Conway last played in the format for his country over a year ago in the T20 World Cup.
He has since rejected a central contract and was initially left out of the travelling squad to Zimbabwe, but a foot injury to Finn Allen allowed him to return.
The opening batter helped New Zealand continue their winning start with an eight-wicket victory over Zimbabwe.
He scored an unbeaten 59 off 40, scoring four boundaries and two maximums, in what was his 11th T20 half-century.
He also formed 50-run partnerships with both Rachin Ravindra (30) and Daryl Mitchell (26 not out) as the Blackcaps chased down a total of 121 in 13.5 overs.
Conway battled through a difficult start, being dropped on one by Blessing Muzarabani, but is relishing his return to the international stage.
"It's great to be back in this environment. It's been a while, so just getting the call-up to come back into the squad is fantastic,” said Conway.
"Obviously Finn Allen's injury is unfortunate but for me it's nice to get that opportunity to be with the squad again and see a couple of faces who I haven't seen in a long period of time. And it was nice to contribute today to the win.
"There was a lot of steep bounce in the surface, which was a little bit unexpected, but we adjusted and thankfully we only had to chase 121 and managed to get across the line.
"With the new ball, especially their left-armer [Richard Ngarava] was a massive challenge for us as batters. They bashed that wicket really hard and got a lot of steep bounce out of it, so it made it pretty hard for us batters early."
