Tauranga, pti: New Zealand cantered to an eight-wicket victory over defending champions West Indies after Finn Allen slammed the tournament's first century on the opening day of the ICC U-19 World Cup here.
In another match, Afghanistan pulled off a five-wicket win over Pakistan.
New Zealand rode on the back of a 163-run stand between Allen and Jakob Bhula, who made 83. Number three batsman Allen, a second-timer at the U19 World Cup, slammed an unbeaten 115.
On a day which saw four matches being played across three cities, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe also notched wins, though their matches in Christchurch were reduced to 20 overs per side owing to rain. Bangladesh defeated Namibia by 87 runs and Zimbabwe beat Papua New Guinea by 10 wickets.
The Windies had taken the early initiative after being put in to bat in the opening Group A match as Keagan Simmons compiled an unbeaten 92 and put on 123 runs with opening partner Kimani Melius (78). However, they were restricted by some tight bowling later on and could only manage 233 for eight.
Pace bowler Matthew Fisher grabbed three for 61 while left-arm spinners Rachin Ravindra (three for 30) and Felix Murray (two for 37) kept the Windies side on a tight leash. New Zealand then coasted home with more than 10 overs to spare.
Afghanistan restricted Pakistan to 188 all out in 47.4 overs, with Qais Ahmad (3/38) and Azmatullah (3-34) doing the damage. Rohail Nazir top-scored for Pakistan with 81.
Afghanistan then powered to victory, reaching 194 for five, thanks to Darwish Raoooli's unbeaten 76. Ikram Ali Khil made 46.
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