New Zealand Beat West Indies By Five Wickets In First T20I (Match Report)

New Zealand defeated the West Indies by five wickets in a rain-affected first Twenty20 international at Auckland's Eden Park on Friday.

The Black Caps finished on 179-5 after being set a target of 176 in a match where the innings were reduced to 16 overs because of persistent showers.New Zealand bowler Lockie Ferguson was match of the match after claiming a career-best haul of 5-21.

West Indies captain Kieron Pollard was the stand-out performer for the tourists with an unbeaten 75 from 37 balls.

The next fixture in the three-match series is in Mount Maunganui on Sunday.

Final Scoreboard in the first Twenty20 international between New Zealand and the West Indies at Eden Park in Auckland on Friday:

West Indies - 180/7 (16)

• A. Fletcher b Ferguson            34
• B. King c Neesham b Southee       13
• S. Hetmyer c Siefert b Ferguson    0
• N. Pooran  lbw b Ferguson          1     
• R. Powell c Ferguson b Southee     0
• K. Pollard  not out               75  
• F. Allen c Siefert b Ferguson     30
• K. Paul c Siefert b Ferguson       0
• S. Cottrell not out                1
• Extras (lb6, nb4, w16)            26
• Total (7 wkts, 16 overs)         180

Did not bat: K. Williams, O. Thomas.

Fall of wickets: 1-58 (Fletcher), 2-58 (Hetmyer), 3-58 (King), 4-58 (Powell), 5-59 (Pooran), 6-143 (Allen), 7-146 (Paul)  

Bowling: Southee 3-0-22-2 (3w); Jamieson 3-0-26-0 (3w); Bennett 2.3-0-50-0 (5w, 3nb); Ferguson 4-0-21-5 (3w); Santner 2-0-23-0 (1nb); Neesham 1.3-0-32-0 (2w)

New Zealand (target 176)

• M. Guptill c Pooran b Cottrell      5
• T. Siefert c Powell b Thomas       17 
• D. Conway c Thomas b Pollard       41
• G. Phillips  b Thomas              22                       
• R. Taylor run out (Allen)           0
• J. Neesham not out                 48 
• M. Santner not out                 31
• Extras (b4, lb2, nb6, w3)          15
• Total (5 wkts, 15.2 overs)        179

Did not bat: T. Southee, K. Jamieson, L. Ferguson, H. Bennett.

Fall of wickets: 1-7 (Guptill), 2-34 (Sierfert), 3-62 (Thomas), 4-63 (Taylor), 5-140 (Conway)

Bowling: Cottrell 4-0-30-1 (1w); Allen 2-0-32-0; Thomas 3-0-23-2 (2w), Williams 2-0-33-0 (nb1), Paul 3-0-39-0 (nb5); Pollard 1.2-0-16-1

Result: New Zealand win by five wickets

Player of the match: Lockie Ferguson

Series: New Zealand lead the three-match series 1-0

Toss: New Zealand

Umpires: Chris Brown (NZL), Wayne Knights (NZL)

TV umpire: Shaun Haig (NZL)

Match referee: Jeff Crowe (NZL)