New Zealand Test opener Jeet Raval has hit an exquisite one-day century to send the West Indies to a tour match defeat in Whangarei.
Raval crafted 169 to steer a New Zealand XI to a six-wicket win with nine balls to spare on Saturday at Cobham Oval, venue for Wednesday's first one-day international.
Swept 2-0 in the Test series, a new-look West Indies appeared to have done enough to win their first match on tour when they reached 288 off their 50 overs.
However, they had no answer to the well-paced knock of composed 29-year-old left-hander Raval, who was dismissed when his team were seven runs short of the target. They reached 4-289 off 48.3 overs.
Raval faced 150 balls, striking 17 fours and a six, accelerating over the latter stages to keep the required run rate in check.
Bharat Popli's 62 was the only other notable knock in the run chase.
The West Indies' attack struggled for penetration in a concerning performance against a team made up primarily of Kiwi fringe domestic players, not required for Twenty20 duty.
Twenty-year-old Auckland offspinner Aniket Parikh impressed, taking 4-47 off his 10 overs.
Opener Kyle Hope was the best of the Windies' batsmen, retiring on 94 off 101 balls. He thought he had reached a century when walking from the park but the scoreboard later revealed he came up six runs short.
Younger brother Shai Hope scored 69.
