Windies win T20 thriller in

West Indies captain Chris Gayle put on an amazing display of power-hitting on Boxing Day at Eden Park, Auckland to push the team to a thrilling victory over New Zealand in the first of two T20 Internationals.

The big left-hander was named Man-of-the-Match for his brilliant 67 from 41 balls – with five fours and five sixes -- as the match ended in a tie. He also took two wickets with his off-spin in the New Zealand innings. Later in the night, Gayle was even more devastating -- hitting 25 in one over as the match was decided in the "eliminator over".

First up, the Windies made 155-8 in reply to the home team’s 155-7 off 20 overs. The match then went to the "eliminator" and Gayle sealed the deal with three more towering sixes as the Windies posted 25 for one wicket to which the Black Caps replied with 15 but lost of the maximum two wickets.

Left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn also had a great day – sending down four overs for 20 runs, and then taking the vital two wickets in the "eliminator". Earlier in the day he hit a boundary off the penultimate ball and got a single off the last ball to tie the match.

"It felt really great out there. I enjoyed my innings and in the end it was good that we came away on the winning side. We kept our cool and came away with a vital victory. The game came down to a tie and the one over worked in our favour. What wanted was a victory and we got it. I would have to say, however, we have some work to do," Gayle said.

"This is the second time we played to a tie in a 20/20 at this ground. Last time we played here New Zealand won in the bowl-off, so this time around we got home in the one over. It was good to see everybody going at it!"

The Captain was full of praise for Benn and the way he handled the pressure with the ball in the "eliminator".

"Benn is a good bowler. He is a very confident player and he wanted it. He wanted to bowl and I gave it to him. He delivered for us tonight under pressure and he deserves the credit," Gayle said.

The second and final T20 international is at Seddon Park, Hamilton on Sunday. First ball is at 5 pm (Sunday - 12 am Eastern Caribbean Time/Saturday - 11 pm Jamaica Time).