ENGLAND saw off New Zealand to win their World Twenty20 warm-up in Mumbai by six wickets, with Adil Rashid, Jason Roy and Jos Buttler all on form in the tune-up.

It was an entertaining encounter at the Wankhede Stadium, with England chasing down 170 courtesy of strong work from openers Roy (55) and Alex Hales (44) and a classy piece of finishing from Jos Buttler, who hit 24no in nine balls at the close to settle things with four balls to spare.

But without Rashid's leg-spin, that result might never have even possible.

He took three for 15 to suck the momentum from the Black Caps innings, which slumped from a position of 101 for two at the halfway stage to 169 for eight thanks to Rashid's efforts.

Roy and Hales did the bulk of the scoring but England still required 30 off the last three overs, then 20 off the last two.

That should not have been a breeze but Buttler made it so with three fours and a six in a decisive cameo.

England selected their first-choice XI for the match and while they will be happy with the result, concerns will linger over their seam bowling.

Liam Plunkett is the most vulnerable, afforded just a single over and seeing it disappear for 19.

England had an inauspicious start, with Chris Jordan's first two deliveries biffed through the covers for four by Martin Guptill.

A towering six off Reece Topley followed but Guptill's brief and breezy stay ended when England's best fielder, Jordan, sprinted and dived to reel in an athletic catch.

If that lifted England, it was not for long.

Kane Williamson welcomed the tepid Plunkett by blasting him out of the attack with four fours and continued peppering the boundary as Eoin Morgan rotated his seamers.

Williamson passed 50 in 26 balls but England's prospects rocketed with the introduction of spin.

First Moeen Ali coaxed a mis-hit from Henry Nicholls (14), then Rashid took things into his own hands.

He turned in a superb stint, conceding no boundaries and picking up the scalps of Luke Ronchi, Williamson and Mitchell Santner.

Williamson was both the most important and the most aesthetically pleasing dismissal, beaten by a leg-break coming down the pitch to be stumped by Buttler.

New Zealand's breakneck start had been successfully halted and wickets fell consistently as they tried to raise things again.

Nathan McCullum nicked Ben Stokes behind, Grant Elliott lost his off stump to Topley and Mitchell McClenaghan was brilliantly held by Buttler off Jordan.

Topley was trusted with the last over, which cost 17 as Ross Taylor (19no) and Tim Southee (11no) opened their shoulders.

Hales was largely a passenger in the six-over powerplay, as partner Roy dominated the strike and scored 37 of his side's 54 runs.

Roy's timing was not flawless in the first couple of overs but when he connected down the ground it was cleanly enough to reach the ropes.

He had found his range by the time McClenaghan dropped short in the fourth over, hitting the second tier of the stand with a swivel pull.

Santner's left-arm spin cost 16 at the first visit, Roy reverse sweeping his sixth boundary of the innings then swiping a slog-sweep for a second six.

But Santner rallied well, with his next three overs costing just eight runs and including the key wickets of Roy - picking out long leg - and Joe Root for 12.

The introduction of Colin Munro brought the best from Hales, who produced three fours in an over, all behind square on the off side to keep England ahead of the rate.

But Santner's tidy work and Nathan McCullum's caught-and-bowled dismissal of Hales for 44 left Buttler and Morgan needing 42 off four overs.

They duly took 12 of them off the 17th, including an audacious ramp from Buttler.

Morgan followed up with successive fours off McCullum only to be caught on the ropes looking to go bigger.

Trent Boult shipped 14 from the penultimate over as the tension eased, leaving Buttler to finish things with a sweet stroke down the ground off Southee.