PORT ELIZABETH (South Africa), Feb 14: Chris Cairns experienced a day of mixed fortunes as New Zealand held their nerve to seal a 20-run victory over West Indies in World Cup Group ‘B’ on Thursday.

Cairns produced a brilliant throw to run out West Indies dangerman Brian Lara and made 37 useful runs, but his long awaited return to the Kiwi bowling attack ended in embarrassment with 21 runs conceded in a solitary over.

The result left both teams with a win and a loss from their first two matches but for New Zealand, who plan to boycott their game in Kenya because of security fears, it saved them from almost certain early elimination.

New Zealand all-rounder Andre Adams took the Man-of-the-Match award after taking three key wickets and contributing a quickfire unbeaten 35 to push his side’s total to a respectable 241 for seven.

West Indies collapsed to 80 for six after Lara’s run out and only a World Cup record seventh-wicket partnership of 98 between Ramnaresh Sarwan (75) and Ridley Jacobs (50) kept their hopes alive.

Lara’s struck a majestic century in Sunday’s opener, but there were no heroics this time from the left-hander who cut a forlorn figure as he trudged off with just two runs to his name, the victim of slick New Zealand teamwork.

Lou Vincent chased the ball to the boundary and threw it back to Cairns, the all-rounder turning instantly and with one stump to aim at hurling the ball unerringly at its target with Lara stranded.

Wavell Hinds, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Hooper and Ricardo Powell fell quickly, but Sarwan stroked seven fours, including three off Cairns’s first over in almost a year.

Plagued by injuries for much of the past 12 months, Cairns was thrown the ball in the 16th over with New Zealand in control, but was immediately withdrawn from the attack after conceding three fours and a six, and bowling a no-ball and a wide.

Cairns had fared much better with the bat, hitting 37 and sharing a vital 64-run stand with Nathan Astle that helped the Kiwis reach a respectable total after being sent into bat.

New Zealand seemed to be heading towards a smaller score when medium-pacer Wavell Hinds captured the wickets of Astle, Cairns and Vincent in 13 balls to reduce them to 147 for six.

But Brendon McCullum (36 not out) and Adams put together an unbroken eighth-wicket partnership of 53, Adams smashing 16 from the final over by Gayle.

West Indies cruised to 34 for no wicket, but Gayle’s departure for 22 sparked a collapse from which they could not recover.