West Indies defeated New Zealand by 7 wickets in the first ODI at the Providence stadium in Guyana thanks to a disciplined performance with the bat, led by debutant Vitel Lawes (3 for 54) and Alzarri Joseph (4 for 41). Keacy Carty (95 off 112) and Shai Hope (87* off 92) also contributed well. The New Zealand batsmen got off to a good start, but only Daryl Mitchell scored fifty, and they finished with 267. West Indies won by 131 runs in 48.5 overs thanks to a 131-run third-wicket partnership between Carty and Hope. With the help of boundaries from John Campbell and Ackeem Auguste and an erratic opening over from Jacob Duffy in which he gave up eight wides, West Indies started the chase well. Campbell's time with Duffy came to an end when Nathan Smith made a good catch in the deep and the batter top-edged a pull. Carty then joined Auguste, and the two of them worked well together. As the second wicket pair added 64, West Indies reached 50 in the first Powerplay and maintained a scoring rate of over five. However, their partnership came to an end when Auguste was bowled out for 38 by Jayden Lennox in the 11th over after New Zealand decided against an lbw review. Carty and Hope got together, and they worked together for more than 150 deliveries, scoring 131 runs and helping West Indies reach their goal. Hope started the game off with a four and a six off Lennox. He also got boundaries off Mitchell Santner and focused on the spinners. Carty, on the other hand, was saved by an umpire's call when New Zealand reviewed Santner's over for lbw. After that, he hit a 67-ball fifty before starting to consistently find the boundaries. This included a six against Duffy in the 35th over when the batter threw the shot and hit the bails. However, the third umpire ruled that he had already completed his shot. Hope reached fifty before Carty hit a six off Lennox, elevating the 100-run stand. Hope drove a Lennox delivery to cover where Santner dived, but he wasn't sure if he had caught the ball cleanly when West Indies reached 200. The third umpire ultimately ruled in favor of the batter because the replays were not conclusive enough. As New Zealand applied pressure and sent Carty back five short of his century, the equation changed from 57 off the final ten overs to 37 off the final five. Hope and Rutherford eased the pressure with sixes and fours against Bracewell, respectively. In the 49th over, they each scored six runs off Fisher to help West Indies take a 1-0 lead. When New Zealand was asked to bat earlier, they got off to a good start, with openers Will Young and Henry Nicholls scoring 80 runs each. The openers were slightly watchful but ensured they capitalised on the boundary opportunities as they built a good base. Lawes, a 19-year-old left-arm wrist spinner, had Nicholls mistiming a pull to midwicket to take his first international wicket, ending the partnership. Mark Chapman started things off with a six against Lawes, and Gudakesh Motie sent Young back on 49 to keep a lead edge. New Zealand were at 126 for 3 at the halfway point of their innings when Daryl Mitchell was lured out of his crease and stumped by Lawes, ending a 29-run partnership between Chapman and Mitchell. Mitchell and Tom Latham made 44 for the fourth wicket, establishing a steady partnership. However, as was the case throughout the innings, promising runs and partnerships were ended when Latham was run out by Khary Pierre, lbw. Mitchell went on to score 50, his fourth fifty-plus score in ODIs in a row, and partnered with Michael Bracewell in a 65-run stand. After 43 overs, New Zealand was 234 for 4, indicating that they would likely reach 300. However, regular wickets meant the flourishing finish did not come. Lawes bagged his third when Bracewell mis-hit a reverse sweep, before Joseph got into the act, picking up four of the last five wickets as New Zealand were bowled out for under 270.