India crashed to their worst ever Twenty20 defeat when an aggressive 84 by Tim Seifert set New Zealand up for an 80 run win in Wellington on Wednesday.
Seifert and Colin Munro blazed away at the top of the innings as New Zealand, looking to bounce back after being outplayed in the recent one-day international series, posted their third highest T20 total of 219.
India were all out in reply for 139 with four balls remaining, in only the eighth time they have failed to bat through in a 20-over innings.
Their previous worst defeat was by 49 runs against Australia at Bridgetown in 2010.
Seifert, whose previous best innings in eight internationals was an unbeaten 14 on debut, gave New Zealand a flying start.
Faced with batting at 11 an over, India faltered from the start when Rohit Sharma went for one and they lost their way.
The second match in the series is in Auckland on Friday.