CHRISTCHURCH, Feb 25: Brendon McCullum smashed an unbeaten half-century to steer New Zealand to a seven-wicket win over India in the first Twenty20 International at the AMI Stadium on Wednesday.

McCullum hit three sixes in his 56 not out from 49 balls as the Kiwis cruised past India’s total of 162 for eight with seven balls to spare.

Martin Guptill (41), Ross Taylor (31) and Jacob Oram (29 not out) all chipped in with valuable runs after India’s top-order crumbled, leaving the Twenty20 world champions defending a modest total.

The tourists were in early trouble when they slumped to 61-5 inside the first eight overs before Suresh Raina rebuilt the innings with an unbeaten 61 off 43 balls, featuring five sixes and two fours.

He received some handy support from Yusuf Pathan, who clubbed three sixes in a row in a quickfire 20, and Harbhajan Singh, who made 21, but it was not enough to trouble the New Zealanders.

The two sides meet again in Wellington on Friday in a second Twenty20 before playing each other in five One-day Internationals and three Tests.

Scoreboard

INDIA:

G. Gambhir b O’Brien 6

V. Sehwag b O’Brien 26

S. Raina not out 61

R. Sharma c B. McCullum b Butler 7

Y. Singh lbw b Vettori 1

M. Dhoni b Butler 2

Y. Pathan c Oram b N. McCullum 20

I. Pathan c N. McCullum b Ryder 12

H. Singh b Southee 21

EXTRAS (LB-3, W-3) 6

TOTAL (for eight wkts, 20 overs) 162

FALL OF WKTS: 1-25, 2-32, 3-54, 4-56, 5-61, 6-82, 7-101, 8-162.

BOWLING: Southee 4-0-42-1; O’Brien 4-0-36-2; Butler 4-0-29-2 (1w); Vettori 4-0-18-1 (2w); N. McCullum 2-0-27-1; Ryder 2-0-7-1.

NEW ZEALAND:

J. Ryder lbw b I. Sharma 1

B. McCullum not out 56

M. Guptill lbw b H. Singh 41

R. Taylor b Khan 31

J. Oram not out 29

EXTRAS (W-5, NB-3) 8

TOTAL (for three wkts, 18.5 overs) 166

FALL OF WKTS: 1-2, 2-56, 3-106.

BOWLING: Khan 4-0-20-1 (1w); Sharma 4-0-35-1 (3nb); I. Pathan 3-0-38-0; Harbhajan Singh 4-0-19-1; Y. Pathan 2.5-0-37-0 (1w); Yuvraj Singh 1-0-17-0 (1w).

RESULT: New Zealand win by seven wickets.

SERIES: New Zealand lead two-match series 1-0.

UMPIRES: Gary Baxter, Evan Watkin (both New Zealand).

TV UMPIRE: Tony Hill (New Zealand).

MATCH REFEREE: Ranjan Madugalle (Sri Lanka).—Agencies