England beat New Zealand by seven wickets in first T20

CHRISTCHURCH: England cruised to a seven-wicket victory over New Zealand in the opening T20I in Christchurch on Friday.

James Vincent top-scored for the tourists with 59, notching his maiden T20 half century as England chased down New Zealand's 154-run target in 18.3 overs.

A three-wicket haul from spinner Mitchell Santner was not enough to rescue the Black Caps, whose batting line-up failed to fire after England won the toss and opted to bowl.

Eoin Morgan predicted the Hagley Oval pitch would become harder to play as the match wore on.

"The wicket looks extremely good for this time of year but the winds tends to get up here and it can be difficult to defend at time in the second innings," he said.

Morgan named three debutants in the team, Worcestershire seamer Pat Brown, Somerset all-rounder Lewis Gregory and Surrey all-rounder Sam Curran.

"It's exciting for these guys to get this opportunity on a tour where we´re missing about seven of our top players," he said.

"It's a chance for them to stake their claim."

Tim Southee, who is captaining the Kiwi side after regular skipper Kane Williamson was sidelined with a hip injury, said his team was looking forward to playing on home soil after a recent tour of Sri Lanka.

"We're coming back to conditions that we´re familiar with and the guys know pretty well," he said.

It is the first time the sides have met since the one-day World Cup final in July, which ended with scores tied but England claiming victory because they had scored more boundaries.

However, both teams insist their focus for the five-match series is on preparing for the T20 World Cup being held in Australia next year.

England are ranked second in the world in T20s, while New Zealand are sixth.

The second fixture in the five-match series takes place in Wellington on Sunday.