After 25 overs, the West Indies were battling at 93 for six wickets.

While fast bowler Shane Bond was consistently letting balls loose at around 150 km/h, it was Andre Adams at the other end who did the damage.

After a very cautious start, against some tidy bowling from Shane Bond and Andre Adams, Chris Gayle got into Adams in his fourth over before taking three successive boundaries from him.

So that by the eighth over, the West Indies were 34 without loss. Gayle was in outstanding touch, driving to long on, through the covers and then an elegant off-drive.

However, he tried it on once too often and in Adams' next over a big drive failed to properly connect and the ball flew to slip where Stephen Fleming made no mistake and the West Indies were 34 for one wicket.

Brian Lara came in and played a ball from Adams towards the mid-wicket boundary. Lou Vincent ran it down and fired a short through to Chris Cairns who then fired it back to the bowler's end stumps where Daniel Vettori was poised to take the ball, but he backed off when he saw where it was headed and the direct hit had Lara out of his ground attempting the third run.

It was a vital blow for New Zealand as Lara was a key wicket after his first match century and the West Indies were 36 for two.

Wavell Hinds had scored 14 when he decided to attempt to blast a cover drive through the close field. But Scott Styris was stationed at close cover and he took an outstanding reflex catch above his head to give Adams a second wicket with the score on 42 for three wickets.

Captain Carl Hooper had barely settled in when he hooked a ball from Adams which flew unerringly to backward square leg fieldsman Bond who didn't have to move in order to complete the catch that left the West Indies 46 for four.

With Bond given a break, Jacob Oram came into the attack and off the first ball of his second over he trapped Shivnarine Chanderpaul leg before wicket without further addition to the score.

Chris Cairns came in to bowl the 16th over, his first bowl in international cricket in more than 12 months after knee surgery, but it was a forgettable over with 21 runs coming from it.

The first ball was a no ball which was hit for four, his second ball was a wide, four were pulled from the next ball. A dot ball followed that, a four was cut from the next ball, and after a single was taken from the penultimate ball, Ricardo Powell pulled a big six over the mid-wicket boundary.

Powell and Ramnaresh Sarwan worked well together but with the score on 80, Powell's impatience got the better of him and he was bowled by Oram who got the ball through an inviting gap left by the batsman. The West Indies were 80 for six.

Sarwan remained a hope for the West Indies, but by the 25th over they were 93 for six wickets with a required run rate of nearly six runs per over.

Adams had three wickets for 30 from his seven overs while Oram had sensational figures of two wickets for 10 from his six overs.

New Zealand scored 241 for seven, with the last pair giving real acceleration when the side looked as if they could have blown their chances in what is a must-win game for them.

The West Indies bowlers had done a fine job in containing the middle-order after New Zealand were 147 for six wickets at one stage. Chris Gayle went into the last over with 21 runs off four overs but conceded 16 runs as Adams hit out.

McCullum finished 36 not out and Adams 35 not out off 24 balls to give their side a fighting chance.

Potential disaster struck for New Zealand when Nathan Astle was given out caught behind by wicket-keeper Ridley Jacobs from medium-pacer Wavell Hinds' bowling when he missed the ball.

He and Chris Cairns had been building a sizeable stand, having added 64 runs, with Astle playing his second highest innings in his third World Cup. He scored 46 from 70 balls.

Then, 11 runs later, Cairns succumbed to Hinds' bowling when caught on the long off boundary by Mervyn Dillon for 37 off 44 balls.

Worse followed when Lou Vincent attempted a flowing drive to a wider ball but couldn't outdo Carl Hooper who took a superb catch at close cover to send Vincent packing for nine off 11 balls. New Zealand were in real trouble at 147 for six wickets.

Chris Harris, who has played so many innings for New Zealand in similar situations, joined with McCullum to restore the momentum. They put on 41 runs in 10 overs.

The pitch proved slower than might have been expected by both sides and Wavell Hines, who had bowled only 19 overs in his 65 previous One-Day Internationals, bowled through in a splendid spell to finish with three for 35 and when he had finished Merv Dillon came back to complete his quota which resulted in one wicket for 30 runs.

With Hooper keeping himself on and using Chris Gayle's slow-medium full pitched bowling, the New Zealanders found the ball hard to get away.

At the end of 46 overs, New Zealand were only 199 for seven wickets.

They brought up the 200 off the first ball of the 47th. Andre Adams finally got onto Gayle, sending the ball for six runs over long off and was then dropped off the next ball by Marlon Samuels who couldn't hold a steepler at backward square leg when he was on 14.

With a run rate just over seven runs in the last five, New Zealand did get to a defendable total, but the question remains how much New Zealand will suffer from the controversial decision which led to the dismissal of Astle.

New Zealand, after 25 overs were 111 for three wickets with Nathan Astle on 34 and Chris Cairns on 26.

A high score is a priority for New Zealand if they are to put a sizeable total together to put pressure on the West Indies batsmen in the second innings.

New Zealand provided a surprise when the opening batsmen came out. There was no Astle - New Zealand's most successful opening batsman in One-Day Internationals.

Instead, Daniel Vettori joined captain Stephen Fleming. With early life expected from the pitch, and the reason for Carl Hooper's decision to put New Zealand in, it proved a reasonable ploy as they saw off the new ball while adding 42 runs before Fleming was caught and bowled by Mervyn Dillon.

Ten runs had already come from the over with Fleming on the back foot and pulling a ball to mid-wicket and then hooking the next ball for six runs over backward square leg.

Fleming scored 25 off 25 balls and was just starting to flow into his shots with one memorable straight drive from Nixon McLean hinting that he was on song. Thirteen runs came off McLean's over, the sixth.

Vettori also had time for some trademark square drives but was happy playing a support role and was rarely in trouble, ducking beneath bouncers with ease. When he scored his third run Vettori brought up 500 runs in his 100th ODI

He and Astle, who came in at No 3, saw the 50 up in the 10th over.

However, the introduction of Vasbert Drakes, saw Vettori dismissed, bowled by Drakes coming around the wicket for 13, scored off 25 balls. New Zealand were 58 for two wickets.

Wavell Hinds was introduced into the attack for the 15th over and only one run came from it and New Zealand were 61 for two wickets.

There was no special innings from Scott Styris today. He struggled for all but one ball which was beautifully powered past point from a back foot shot for four. But he attempted the same sort of shot to a slower ball from Drakes and was caught by a leaping Ricardo Powell for five. New Zealand were 66 for three wickets.

Chris Cairns joined Astle and clipped a ball from Hinds for four through square leg and then in the next over he played a superb pull shot high over mid-wicket for six runs off Drakes. But then off the next ball, he edged a ball wide of slip where a diving Hooper was just unable to haul in the chance as the ball went for four runs.

They combined well and didn't take any undue risk and saw the 100 up in the 22nd over, off 130 balls.

The innings was already significant for Astle as his 34 was his second highest score in World Cup cricket, after a century scored in his first Cup match, against England in 1996.

West Indies captain Carl Hooper has put the pressure on from the outset by winning the toss and asking New Zealand to bat.

The TelstraClear Black Caps have lacked batting form all summer and Hooper's ploy is an ideal mechanism for testing the resolve in the Kiwi batting line-up.

Hooper said that local knowledge suggested the pitch at St George's Park will do a little at the start of the first innings. And he was looking to pick up some wickets early.

He added that in the series against New Zealand in the Caribbean midway through last year the games the West Indies won were when they chased.

New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming said: "We are very determined. We know what we have to do. It is very important we get a good total," he said.

They will need runs aplenty if they are to put pressure on a West Indies batting order that performed superbly in taking a surprise first win from South Africa in the tournament's opening game.

In a bid to get a flying start, there was a surprise development as Daniel Vettori opened with Stephen Fleming instead of Nathan Astle.

New Zealand's loss to Sri Lanka, and the lingering prospect that they may forfeit their points to Kenya because of their refusal to play in Nairobi, makes this game absolutely vital for New Zealand.

They have made some vital changes with Craig McMillan dropped, Daniel Vettori back in the team and Brendon McCullum to keep wickets.

A feature of the game will be the return to the bowling crease of Chris Cairns who has not bowled since last summer owing to surgery after a knee injury.

Conditions are fine for the match with a south-west wind blowing across the ground.

The teams are:

New Zealand: Stephen Fleming (captain), Andre Adams, Nathan Astle, Shane Bond, Chris Cairns, Chris Harris, Brendon McCullum, Jacob Oram, Scott Styris, Daniel Vettori, Lou Vincent. (12th man- Daryl Tuffey).

West Indies: Carl Hooper (captain), Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Mervyn Dillon, Vasbert Drakes, Chris Gayle, Wavell Hinds, Brian Lara, Ridley Jacobs, Nixon McLean, Ricardo Powell, Ramnaresh Sarwan. (12th man - Marlon Samuels).