New Zealand 5-189 (Brendon McCullum 60*, Luke Ronchi 48*, Tino Best 3-40) beat West Indies 8-108 (Andre Fletcher 23, Johnson Charles 16, Nathan McCullum 4-24, James Neesham 3-16) by 81 runs.
Brendon McCullum led from the front with a brilliant fifty whereas Luke Ronchi assisted him well and Nathan McCullum scratched the batting of the Caribbeans.
The Black Caps hammered 189 after losing just five wickets in 20 overs and the Windies managed just 108 with two wickets in hand.
Luke Ronchi (New Zealand) was declared ‘Player of the match’ for his aggressive knock of 48 off 25 mere balls.
The first Twenty20 of the two match series was played on Saturday, January 11, 2014, at Eden Park, Auckland.
Earlier, Brendon McCullum, the skipper of the home side, won the toss and opted to bat first. The openers provided a rising start of 38 in 3.5 overs when he got together with Jesse Ryder who was gone at 56 for 22. The Kiwis scored 5-104 in 12.5 overs as Luke Ronchi associated with McCullum and they changed the complexion of the game with their attacking batting. The first dispatched 22 runs in the 18th over and the latter smashed his 12th T20 fifty with a six. Brendon McCullum remained unbeaten for 60 off 45 balls with 4 giant sixes and 2 fours, Ronchi secured his end for 48 from 25 comprising 4 big sixes and 3 fours as the Black Caps amassed 5-189 in 20 overs.
Tino Best was the supreme bowler with three wickets and Nikita Miller got two.
The Windies lost an early wicket at 11 as Andre Fletcher associated with Johnson Charles who became the next victim at 31 for 16. The strong looking batting line up of the visitors surrendered one after another and Fletcher was the fifth batsman who went back to the pavilion at 59 after scoring 23. The wickets kept on crumbling at regular intervals and the Caribbeans reached 108 for the loss of eight wickets after utilising 20 overs.
Nathan McCullum was the star performer with four wickets, James Neesham held three whereas Adam Milne chipped in with one wicket.
New Zealand triumphed in the first Twenty20 with a hefty margin of 81 runs and leads the series at 1-0.
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