New Zealand claim 81-run victory in first T20

McCullum, playing his 50th T20 international, dismissed Andre Fletcher for 23, Kieran Powell for 12, Dwayne Bravo for 10 and Andre Russell for 0 in the space of four overs, slicing through the top and middle order as the West Indies were held to 108-8 in reply to New Zealand’s 189-5.

Jimmy Neesham removed opener Johnson Charles for 16, then returned to dismiss Chadwick Walton for 5 and Sunil Narine for a second-ball duck, taking 3-16 as New Zealand overwhelmed the tourists on a slow pitch at Eden Park.

Wicketkeeper Luke Ronchi scored 48 in an unbroken 85-run partnership with captain Brendon McCullum and held two important catches as New Zealand took charge of the Twenty20 series ahead of the second match at Wellington on Wednesday.

Just as New Zealand cricket fans were beginning to wonder what the former Australian keeper brought to the New

Twenty20 scorecard

New Zealand innings    M Guptill c Charles b Best 25 J Ryder c Charles b Miller 22 B McCullum not out 60 L Taylor c Bravo b Miller 5 C Munro c Fletcher b Best 22 C Anderson c Powell b Best 0 L Ronchi not out 48 Extras: 7 Total: (5 wkts; 20 overs) 189 Fall of wickets: 1-38 2-56 3-66 4-103 5-104 West Indies innings    J Charles c Ronchi b Neesham 16 L Simmons c Ronchi b Milne 0 A Fletcher c Ryder b McCullum 23 K Powell c Guptill b McCullum 12 D Bravo c Ryder b McCullum 10 A Russell c Guptill b McCullum 0 C Walton c Munro b Neesham 9 N Miller not out 15 S Narine c Milne b Neesham 0 S Badree not out 14 Extras: 9 Total: (8 wkts; 20 overs) 108 Fall of wickets: 1-11 2-31 3-53 4-59 5-64 6-75 7-77 8-77

Zealand limited overs squads, Ronchi produced an all-round performance which solidified his claims to selection for the Twenty20 World Cup.

He scored his 48 runs from 25 balls, just as New Zealand’s innings had begun to flag, and claimed catches to dismiss both of the West Indian openers: Johnson Charles for 16 and Lendl Simmons without scoring.

New Zealand-born Ronchi began his international career with Australia in 2008 but lost his place in the Australian team and transferred his allegiance to New Zealand in 2012.

While Brendon McCullum top-scored for New Zealand, taking his 60 runs from 45 balls with two fours and four sixes, it was Ronchi who kick-started an innings which had begun to be bogged down.

None of the New Zealand top order managed to stay long at the crease with Martin Guptill making 25 from 16 balls, Jesse Ryder 22 from 14 and Ross Taylor 5.

But the start was better than that made by the West Indies, who struggled against the express pace of Adam Mile and the mixed pace and flight of McCullum.

Milne bowled at more than 155 kph, taking 1-15 from four overs, and McCullum, in his 50th Twenty20 international, showed his ability to vary his line and flight in difficult batting conditions.

New Zealand’s fielding was also outstanding, exemplified by the one-handed catch claimed by Guptill on the boundary to dismiss Kieran Powell.

“It was a pretty complete performance right from the get-go”, captain Brendon McCullum said.

“I thought the momentum we got early on from (Ryder and Guptill) was excellent and then they came back into the game in the middle stages with some pretty good bowling.

The West Indies now go to Wellington needing to win to square the Twenty20 series after tying the one-day series 2-2 and losing the Test series 2-0.

“They got off to a good start but I thought we pulled them back a bit in the middle overs”, Bravo said.

“We tried to be positive up front and to maximize the first six overs but we kept losing wickets and under those circumstances there’s always going to be scoreboard pressure”.