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.

“We got off to a good start but we have to remember it’s a 20-over game,” India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said.

“Nobody took the responsibility to stay there in the middle.

“It’s a good learning (experience) for us, we just can’t go through the motions.”

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.

“It was a real pleasing win in all aspects of the game,” New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori said.

“India put us under some real pressure at times and we responded particularly well.

“We’re happy with this result but we know it’s the first of many games so we can’t get too far ahead of ourselves.”

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
INDIA innings
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 wickets, 20 overs) 162
Fall of wickets: 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 (w-1), Vettori 4-0-18-1 (w-2), N. McCullum 2-0-27-1, Ryder 2-0-7-1

NEW ZEALAND innings
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 wickets, 18.5 overs) 166
Fall of wickets: 1-2 2-56 3-106
Bowling: Khan 4-0-20-1 (w-1), Sharma 4-0-35-1 (nb-3), Pathan 3-0-38-0, Harbhajan Singh 4-0-19-1, Pathan 2.5-0-37-0 (w-1), Yuvraj Singh 1-0-17-0 (w-1)
Fixtures: Second Twenty20 at Wellington, Feb 27.