AUCKLAND, New Zealand, CMC – An unbeaten sixth-wicket partnership between Brendon McCullum and Luke Ronchi rescued New Zealand from a precarious position to win the first Twenty20 International against West Indies by 81 runs on Saturday.
The 85-run stand from 43 balls helped the hosts to 189-5 batting first and restricted West Indies to 108-8 after 20 overs.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Andre Fletcher, who joined the team this week, was West Indies’ highest scorer with 23. Fletcher joined Johnson Charles (16) following the dismissal of Lendl Simmons without scoring.
Nikita Miller and Samuel Badree batted out the West Indies’ innings, finishing on 15 and 14 respectively.
Nathan McCullum (4-24) and James Neesham (3-16), led the bowling for New Zealand.
Earlier, New Zealand reached 189-5, thanks mainly to Brendon McCullum and Ronchi, who frustrated the West Indies’ bowlers. Both batsmen closed their side’s innings unbeaten on 60 and 48 respectively.
Tino Best, who made the initial breakthrough with the dismissal of Martin Guptill for 25, finished with 4-30 from four overs and Nikita Miller had 2-26 from three overs.
The two teams wrap up the two-match T20I series on Wednesday in Wellington.
New Zealand
Martin Guptill c Charles b Best 25
Jesse Ryder c Charles b Miller 22
Brendon McCullum not out 60
Ross Taylor c Bravo b Miller 5
Colin Munro c †Fletcher b Best 22
Corey Anderson c Powell b Best 0
Luke Ronchi not out 48
Total: 189/5 (20 Overs)
Extras: (b 5, w 1, nb 1) 7
Fall of Wickets: 1-38 (Guptill, 3.5 ov), 2-56 (Ryder, 6.4 ov), 3-66 (Taylor, 8.6 ov), 4-103 (Munro, 12.2 ov), 5-104 (Anderson, 12.5 ov).
Did not Bat: Nathan McCullum, Tim Southee, Adam Milne, James Neesham.
West Indies Bowling: S Badree 4-0-25-0, T Best 4-0-40-3, S Narine 4-0-46-0, N Miller 3-0-26-2, Dwayne Bravo 4-0-24-0, A Russell 1-0-23-0.
West Indies (Target: 190)
Johnson Charles c Ronchi b Neesham 16
Lendl Simmons c Ronchi b Milne 0
Andre Fletcher c Ryder b Nathan McCullum 23
Kieran Powell c Guptill b Nathan McCullum 12
Dwayne Bravo c Ryder b Nathan McCullum 10
Andre Russell c Guptill b Nathan McCullum 0
Chadwick Walton c Munro b Neesham 9
Nikita Miller not out 15
Sunil Narine c Milne b Neesham 0
Samuel Badree not out 14
Total: 108/8 (20 Overs)
Extras: (lb 2, w 7) 9
Fall of Wickets: 1-11 (Simmons, 1.4 ov), 2-31 (Charles, 4.3 ov), 3-53 (Powell, 8.3 ov), 4-59 (Fletcher, 10.1 ov), 5-64 (Russell, 10.6 ov), 6-75 (Bravo, 12.5 ov), 7-77 (Walton, 13.3 ov), 8-77 (Narine, 13.5 ov).
Did not Bat: Tino Best
New Zealand Bowling: T Southee 4-0-36-0, A Milne 4-0-15-1, J Neesham 4-0-16-3, Nathan McCullum 4-0-24-4, C Anderson 4-0-15-0.
Result: New Zealand win by 81 runs
Toss: New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat
Man of the Match: Brendon McCullum
Twenty20 International Debuts: K Powell & C Walton
Umpires: Chris Gaffaney & Derek Walker
TV Umpire: Gary Baxter
Match Referee: Chris Broad (England)
Reserve Umpire: Wayne Knights
CMC/mb/14
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