India vs New Zealand Live Cricket Score 1st T20: Suryakumar's fifty keeps India cruising in run-chase

India 149/3 in 18 overs

Trent Boult's twin-strike has brought the match closer than it probably should have. Only 7 runs in the last two overs as India still require 16 from 12 deliveries.

Looks an easy run-chase on paper, but with two new batters on the crease, can New Zealand pull off a turnaround?

Boult removes Suryakumar!

The pacer makes amends for the dropped catch. A fullish delivery from the pacer and Suryakumar, who had positioned himself for the lap shot, goes across but misses the line.

India 144/3 in 17 overs. Target - 165

Suryakumar dropped!

Very poor fielding from New Zealand players in the past few overs, and now Trent Boult fails to judge an easy catch at fine leg boundary. 

India are cruising towards a victory here.

142/2 in 16 overs. Target - 165

India 127/2 in 15 overs. Target - 165

Rohit may have been dismissed but India should be able to win this unless a miraculous collapse takes place in the next five overs.

50 for Suryakumar!

What a way to bring it! The batter uses Lockie Ferguson's pace, flicking the delivery behind square for a six.

A third half-century for Suryakumar Yadav.

India 121/2 in 14.1 overs

Rohit dismissed on 48!

Pace does the trick! Trent Boult gets his man again. The left-armer extracts the pace completely and Rohit, who attempted at beating the fielder behind square, couldn't get any distance on the shot. Rohit misses his half-century by 2 runs.

India 115/2 in 14 overs

India 109/1 in 13 overs

New Zealand are in desperate need of a breakthrough. After a few initial hiccups, Suryakumar Yadav has settled on the crease alongside Rohit. Southee might opt to bring some pace into the attack.

100 up for India!

Suryakumar Yadav on a roll! He starts Todd Astle's third over with a six over long-on, and brings India's 100 with a four towards the midwicket boundary. The 100-run mark comes in 11.3 overs.

IND vs NZ Live Cricket Score: India 85/1 in 10 overs; Target - 165

Rohit Sharma gave India an electrifying start in the run-chase, but KL Rahul's wicket right before the end of Powerplay certainly slowed the pace of Indian innings. Regardless, at the halfway mark, India remain in control. 

First boundary for Suryakumar!

The right-hander finally opens his arms for a maximum wide of long-on. A little full from Todd Astle and Suryakumar pounces on the opportunity, lofting it brilliantly to clear the boundary.

India 79/1 in 9 overs. Target - 165

Tight overs from Astle, Santner

11 runs from the last two overs. Suryakumar Yadav has looked a little shaky while Rohit Sharma is now dealing in singles and doubles.

India 68/1 in 8 overs. Target - 165

Rahul dismissed!

Easy catch at deep square leg for Mark Chapman as Mitchell Santner strikes. Rahul attempts to continue on his aggressive stroke-playing but doesn't find the timing. A half-tracker from Santner and he finds the man at deep square leg.

Suryakumar Yadav is the new man in.

India 56/1 in 6 overs

6, 1, 4, 4, 6, 0 - 21 runs off Boult!

It is an exhibition from Rohit Sharma so far. He slams three successive boundaries off Trent Boult - one of his main nemesis in the limited-overs formats. It must be said that it hasn't been a very good bowling performance from Boult, as he continues to pitch it short.

India 50/5 in 5 overs. Target - 165

Rahul joins the party!

Poor length from Boult and KL Rahul punishes. Very short from Boult and Rahul pulls it over deep square leg for a mighty six.

India 35/0 in 4.1 over

Back to back fours!

Poor line from Southee. He wanders off both line and length, keeping it a bit fuller and way outside off-stump. Rohit Sharma says thank you very much and opens his arms for two boundaries. The second, as former head coach Ravi Shastri would say, ran like a tracer bullet towards cover.

Rohit ends the over with a six, finally getting an opportunity to unleash a famous pull over deep square leg. Good over for India.

India 24/0 in 3 overs. Target 165

Tight start from Boult

Not very full from Boult, which is usually the case against the Indian opening duo. The left-armer pulls back his lengths a little but keeps it tight regardless, conceding only two off his first over.

India 9/0 in 2 overs. Target 165

KL Rahul survives!

Martin Guptill came close to grabbing an absolute stunner in the slip, but the ball barely goes over him for a boundary. A lucky, thick edge for Rahul.

7 runs off the first over and like Bhuvneshwar earlier in the New Zealand innings, these are proper Test match lengths from Southee.

India 7/0 in 1 over. Target 165

Rohit, Rahul open

Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul open for India in the 165-run chase. Tim Southee to bowl the first over.

IND vs NZ Live: New Zealand 164/6 in 20 overs

A strong comeback from India in the second half of the innings! Martin Guptill (70) and Mark Chapman (63) had put a 109-run stand for the second wicket, but Ravichandran Ashwin's final over was the game-changer as he dismissed Chapman, which forced a series of wickets as the Kiwis failed to recover from the dismissal.

Ravindra departs

New Zealand six down! A length delivery from Siraj, Ravindra swings and misses.

New Zealand 162/6 in 19.5 overs

Siraj returns to bowl

No major concerns for now as he returns to complete the over.

Siraj hit on fingers

Looks like a very serious injury, hopefully it isn't. Mitchell Santner slams a fullish delivery straight towards the bowler and the ball goes past the webbing of Siraj's fingers. He's bleeding and the physio is on the ground.

IND vs NZ Live Scorecard: New Zealand 157/5 in 19 overs

Tight over from Bhuvneshwar Kumar as he concedes only five and ends his spell with impressive figures of 2/24.

Tim Seifert falls as he attempts to accelerate the run-scoring. Suryakumar Yadav takes a well-judged catch, as his reaction suggested that his vision was disturbed by the floodlights! Bhuvneshwar Kumar takes his second wicket.

New Zealand 153/5 in 18.2 overs

Two overs remaining

152/4 on the board for New Zealand. It is unlikely there will be an over from Venkatesh Iyer at this stage. Two big overs coming up.

Guptill dismissed!

A brilliant innings from the opener comes to an end! Deepak Chahar with the breakthrough. Guptill lofts one over square but couldn't find the timing. A great catch from Shreyas Iyer near deep mid-wicket.

New Zealand 150/4 in 17.2 overs

IND vs NZ Live: Axar Patel drops Seifert!

How costly will that be? Axar Patel drops Seifert in the deep. Three overs remaining and New Zealand are looking at a strong finish here.

NZ 144/3 in 17 overs

India vs New Zealand Live Scorecard: NZ 123/3 in 15 overs

The over from Ravichandran Ashwin has done little to deter Guptill. The opener continues on his lofted shots, forcing Siraj to wander off his lengths.

IND vs NZ Live: 50 for Guptill!

A solid half-century from Martin Guptill. An even better acceleration from the opener. He had scored 21 off the first 20 deliveries of his innings – he slammed the next 30 runs in merely 11 balls!

Ashwin strikes again!

Two in an over! Ashwin removes Glenn Phillipps on a duck! 

Just the over India needed. The off-spinner traps Phillips in front of stumps. A carrom ball from Ashwin and the batter was all at sea as he gets beaten on the defence.

New Zealand 110/3 in 14 overs

WICKET NO.2!

Finally. Ravichandran Ashwin breaches Mark Chapman's defence. 

Tossed-up delivery from Ashwin and Chapman goes across the line. He completely misses the length and gets deceived by the flight. Much-needed breakthrough for India.

NZ 110/2 in 13.2 overs

100 up for New Zealand!

A solid stand from Guptill and Chapman so far. The two steered New Zealand out of the setback in the first over, and are now shifting gears after a successful rebuild. India in desperate need of a breakthrough.

New Zealand 106/1 in 13 overs

IND vs NZ Live: 50 for Chapman

An impressive half-century from Mark Chapman, and an even better way to bring it. The left-hander slams Axar Patel's full-toss for a huge six over deep square.

New Zealand 96/1 in 12 overs

Guptill shifting gears

Guptill knows only too well about leaving it too late. Fresh after a disappointing 35-ball 28 in the T20 World Cup final, the opener is now picking up pace, going for biggies against Mohammed Siraj.

A six and a four to end the 11th over as Siraj concedes 16.

New Zealand 81/1 in 11 overs

India vs New Zealand Live Scorecard: NZ 65/1 in 10 overs

We are at the halfway mark of the innings and it has been an impressive revival from Chapman and Guptill after the early blow. Chapman, in particular, has tackled the initial movement cleverly and even though he has struggled a little against spin, the batter is punishing the bad deliveries to keep the scoreboard ticking.

IND vs NZ Live Score: New Zealand 55/1 in 8 overs

Both batters have been efficiently rotating the strike, findings easy runs off every delivery in Axar Patel's first over. Neither Chapman nor Guptill are going for the big hits right now. Smart batting from the two.

Chapman leads the rebuild

Mark Chapman had waited long for an opportunity, and now he is making the most of it. Some solid boundaries from the left-hander so far, and now he finds one off Ashwin. A poor delivery from the off-spinner as he goes down the leg-side. Chapman gets down on the knee and sweeps it past third man.

New Zealand 48/1 in 7 overs

IND Vs NZ Live Cricket Score: New Zealand 41/1 in 6 overs

First big over of the innings. Mark Chapman takes the aerial route towards the leg-side, finding two boundaries - a four and a six as Deepak Chahar concedes 15 runs in the final over of Powerplay.

6 off Ashwin's first over

Chapman looks to attack Ashwin, charging down the track again. Tight lengths from the off-spinner. One may have almost forgotten Martin Guptill is also playing – he has played only four deliveries in the first five overs!

NZ 26/1 in 5 overs

IND vs NZ Live: Spin into attack

Ashwin enters in Powerplay. A good match-up as well, as he bowls to left-handed Chapman.

India vs New Zealand Live Cricket Score: NZ 20/1 in 4 overs

Clever from Chapman to negate the movement by charging down the track or moving across the crease. Siraj keeps it short, however, not allowing the left-hander to go for the big ones. Another tight over as he concedes only 5.

India Vs New Zealand 2021: Mohammed Siraj into the attack

The right-arm pacer, who last played in a T20I over three years ago, is back in the XI. There's nice movement off the surface and Siraj would be aiming to exploit the condition.

Bhuvneshwar keeps it tight

A little shorter lengths than in the previous over – one of which edges past the wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant. But a tight over otherwise from Bhuvneshwar as he concedes only four.

New Zealand 15/1 in 3 overs

India vs New Zealand Live Cricket Score: First boundary!

Mark Chapman slams a solid cover drive for the first boundary in New Zealand innings. Deepak Chahar bowls it wide of off-stump, allowing the left-hander to open his arms and loft it over cover.

New Zealand 11/1 in 2 overs

WHAT A START! Bhuvneshwar strikes on the third delivery! He castles Daryl Mitchell's stumps.

Length delivery from the pacer and it nips back in beautifully towards the right-hander. Reminisces of old Bhuvneshwar Kumar in that delivery.

NZ 2/1 in 1 over

Let the action begin!

We are done with the national anthems and the players take to the field. Martin Guptill and Daryl Mitchell open for New Zealand.

Bhunveshwar Kumar to bowl the first over.

New Zealand Playing XI

Martin Guptill, Daryl Mitchell, Mark Chapman, Glenn Phillips, Tim Seifert(w), Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee(c), Todd Astle, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult

India Playing XI

Rohit Sharma(c), KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant(w), Venkatesh Iyer, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Mohammed Siraj

IND vs NZ 1st T20: Captains speak

Rohit Sharma (India) It's been good, has been only 2 days, been a quick turnaround, back from Dubai, spent a couple of days and back here. But it'll be good for the team. We have Shreyas Iyer back, Venkatesh is debuting , Bhuvi, Siraj and Chahar are back. We're playing three pacers and two spinners. We have one eye on the next World Cup, it's a lot of time ahead, we'll try our options, some results might not be immediate, but the process will be crucial.

Tim Southee (New Zealand) “We'd have bowled as well, keeping dew factor in mind. Pretty disappointed at not winning the World Cup, but this is a great place to play cricket and the team is looking forward to it. Another chance to give chances - 4 changes for us - Neesham, KW, Sodhi and Milne miss out; Mark Chapman, Todd Astle and Lockie Ferguson are in.”

Shreyas, Bhuvneshwar return

While Venkatesh Iyer makes his debut, Shreyas Iyer and Bhuvneshwar Kumar are also returning to the XI. Mohammed Siraj also features in the XI alongside Deepak Chahar.

Toss Update

India win toss, opt to bowl against New Zealand in Jaipur

India Vs New Zealand 2021: Venkatesh Iyer in IPL

Matches: 10Runs: 370S/R: 128.47Highest: 67

All of his runs in the IPL have come as an opener.

Venkatesh Iyer to make debut

Iyer, who had opened for the Kolkata Knight Riders throughout the second leg of the IPL, is making his Team India debut.

IND Vs NZ 1st T20: Rahul Dravid is here!

The Team India head coach is out here! 

India vs New Zealand Live Score: Bhuvneshwar or Siraj?

Bhuvneshwar Kumar hasn't been in the best of form over the past few months. He was excluded from the playing XI after a wicketless outing against Pakistan in the 2021 T20 World Cup, while Siraj, who is making a comeback in the limited-overs side, had been significantly economical in the Indian Premier League this year (6.78 rpo; 11 wickets).

IND vs NZ 1st T20: Rohit-KL opening duo most efficient?

In the five matches where KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma have opened together against New Zealand, the duo has added 225 runs in five innings – including an 89-run partnership. They had opened in all of the five T20Is during the bilateral series between the two sides in 2020.

IND vs NZ Live: Rohit Sharma wary of Kiwi threat

New Zealand may have been depleted with some of their senior players missing, but Rohit Sharma has insisted that the side is full of match-winners. 

"They are a very formidable team. And over the years, we've seen that they play well as a team. Having said that, you know, this is not really dependent on one individual. There are other individuals there who take the game away from the opposition on any given date," said Rohit.

India vs New Zealand: Tim Southee speaks on burnout

“It's obviously a pretty busy schedule, we knew this was going to be the case even leading into the T20 World Cup, we had a series in Bangladesh and Pakistan, (some of) the guys were at the IPL, so something over the last couple of years have made scheduling a lot tougher,” Tim Southee said ahead of the 1st T20.

Opening conundrum

Will it be Rohit-Rahul or Rohit-Ishan? Or will KL Rahul be tried as a finisher with Venkatesh Iyer making his debut? And oh, we haven't even talked about Ruturaj Gaikwad yet, who is the Orange Cap winner of this year's IPL.

Such questions usually pop up with the problem of plenty. The same problem hurt India badly in India's Super 12 stage, when Rohit Sharma was sent at no.3.

The last time India met New Zealand, it was a one-sided affair in the T20 World Cup. The Kane Williamson-led Kiwi side eased past India by 8 wickets. In their last bilateral series meeting, however, India had secured a 5-0 clean sweep victory.

H2H Record:

Matches: 17India won: 6New Zealand won: 9Tied: 2

Senior players rested

It is not only a new era in terms of changes in roles. With many senior players like Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya and Mohammed Shami rested, it will also be an opportunity for youngsters to put their best foot forward as Team India prepares for the 2022 T20 World Cup.

While three players have received a maiden call-up, three others have only made their T20I debuts this year.

 India vs New Zealand, 1st T20

Hello and welcome to the live coverage of India vs New Zealand 1st T20 in Jaipur. While Rohit Sharma leads the Indian team, Tim Southee will lead the Kiwis in absence of Kane Williamson, who has opted to rest to prepare for the Test series.