Despite a valiant all-round effort from Odean Smith in Game 1 of the T20 series, the West Indies fell short at Sabina Park in Jamaica to give New Zealand a 1-0 series lead.
Smith turned in career-best performances with both bat and ball playing in front his home crowd. The all-rounder had impressive figures of 3-32 off his four overs and then smashed a whirlwind 27 not out off just 12 balls in the losing effort.
New Zealand took first knock and made 185-5 off their 20 overs to which the West Indies replied with 172-7 off their 20 overs. Shamarh Brooks top-scored with 42 from 43 deliveries while Jason Holder hit 25 from 19 balls.
The Windies brought themselves into a good position to snatch victory after a fine partnership between Smith and Brooks. They needed 26 from the final over but other than a six from Shepherd off the third ball from seamer Tim Southee, they were unable to secure the dramatic win.
Game 2 of the three-match series is on Friday at Sabina.