It turned into a battle of the captains and the West Indies Chris Gayle came out on top as the tourists won the opening Twenty20 cricket match at Eden Park.
The scores were tied on 155 after their respective 20 overs....Ross Taylor top scoring with 63 for New Zealand.... while Gayle made 67 in the Windies' innings.
In the only other Twenty20 match between the teams, also at Eden Park in 2006, the scores finished in a tie.
In the "one-over eliminator", seen on the international stage for the first time, Gayle hit 25 runs off the bowling of Dan Vettori, while in return New Zealand lost the maximum 2 wickets while scoring just 15 runs.
It is New Zealand's eight consecutive loss in the condensed version of the game.
The second and final Twenty20 international between the teams is in Hamilton tomorrow.
