Cranes are reflected in architect Renzo Piano's partly constructed 94 storey Shard building in London
England's Eoin Morgan in action against New Zealand in the first match of the Twenty20. Reuters REUTERS

England cruised to a record win in their Twenty20 match against New Zealand today, beating their opponents by 40 runs and hitting 15 sixes.

The victory in Eden Park, Auckland, gives England a 1-0 lead with two to play against New Zealand, as they chalked up a ground record with 214 for seven.

The final 214-7 result beats their previous 202-6 record score against South Africa in 2009.

England made the most of the ground's notoriously short boundaries, hitting sixteen fours as well as 15 sixes, although New Zealand's catching was sloppy.

New Zealand's chances faded when Brendon McCullum was superbly caught by Eoin Morgan off Finn, who also caught the returning Ross Taylor on the boundary for 13.

Stuart Broad's then scored two wickets in the 15<sup>th over to snuff out New Zealand's chances.

Asked if it was the best England T20 performance he could remember, Broad said on Sky Sports 1: "Certainly that I've captained.

"Looking back to the 2010 World Cup where we won we were fantastic throughout that tournament, but to go and get a record score of 214, that's the exciting thing in the team, to have that mindset to go and get such a high score."

South Africa