Debutant Lawes, Carty-Hope pair star as West Indies go 1-0 up

A disciplined performance with the ball, led by debutant Vitel Lawes (3 for 54) and Alzarri Joseph (4 for 41), followed by fine knocks from Keacy Carty (95 off 112) and Shai Hope (87* off 92) helped West Indies win the opening ODI against New Zealand by 7 wickets at the Providence stadium in Guyana.

New Zealand batters got off to promising starts but only Daryl Mitchell crossed fifty as they ended up with 267. Carty and Hope led the reply with a 131-run third-wicket stand as West Indies got over the line in 48.5 overs.

West Indies began the chase positively, helped by boundaries from John Campbell and Ackeem Auguste, and an erratic opening over from Jacob Duffy which conceded 8 wides. Duffy ended Campbell's stay when the batter top-edged a pull. Carty then joined Auguste and forged a good partnership. West Indies crossed 50 in the first Powerplay and maintained a scoring rate of over five, as the second wicket pair added 64. Auguste fell to Jayden Lennox on 38.

Carty and Hope got together and their partnership continued for more than 150 deliveries, scoring 131 runs to guide West Indies towards the target. Hope targeted the spinners, getting boundaries off Lennox and Mitchell Santner. Carty brought up a 67-ball fifty before finding the boundaries regularly. Hope got past fifty and Carty struck a six off Lennox which raised the 100-run stand.

The equation was 57 off the last 10 overs, which became 37 off the last five as New Zealand applied the squeeze and sent Carty back five short of his century. Hope and Rutherford finished it off with a six apiece off Fisher in the 49th over.

Earlier, asked to bat, New Zealand got off to a solid start with openers Will Young and Henry Nicholls adding 80. The partnership ended when Lawes had Nicholls mistiming a pull to mid wicket for his first international wicket. Motie sent Young back on 49. A 29-run stand between Chapman and Mitchell was cut short as Chapman was stumped in Lawes' fourth over.

Mitchell went on to cross 50 – his fourth successive fifty-plus score in ODIs – and was involved in a 65-run stand with Michael Bracewell. New Zealand reached 234 for 4 after 43 overs, but regular wickets meant the flourishing finish did not come. Lawes bagged his third when Bracewell mis-hit a reverse sweep, before Joseph picked up four of the last five wickets.

Brief scores: New Zealand 267 in 49.5 overs (Daryl Mitchell 65, Will Young 49; Alzarri Joseph 4-41, Vitel Lawes 3-54) lost to West Indies 268/3 in 48.5 overs (Keacy Carty 95, Shai Hope 87*; Jayden Lennox 1-55) by 7 wickets.