India vs New Zealand, 2nd T20I: Tilak Varma holds nerve as India clinch four-wicket win, take 2-0 lead in series

Skilful shot from Finn Allen. Finally, he cuts loose. The right-hander paddles the ball away for a six! First maximum of the game for the big-hitting batter. The shot throws Bhuvneshwar off his line and bowls a wide delivery. There has been no pitched-up delivery from the experienced pacer so far.

New Zealand 31/2 in 4.1 overs.

Arshdeep Singh drops it short, and Glenn Phillips hammers it past the cover fielder, and the ball races towards the fence for a boundary. Much-needed four for New Zealand. Phillips is up and running in Christchurch. The right-hander then lets the next delivery go by.

New Zealand 23/2 in 3.4 overs

Bhuvneshwar Kumar gets among the wickets now. It's a double blow for New Zealand, and Daryl Mitchell walks back for six. New Zealand have been rocked early in Christchurch. Mitchell looked to flick it away, but the leading edge went straight into the lap of Tilak Varma, who was stationed at over. Second catch of the game for Tilak.

New Zealand 18/2 in 3 overs.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar again drops it a tad short, and Daryl Mitchell just flicks the delivery away for his first boundary of the game. The next delivery sees Mitchell run a quick single, and it seemed that the batter was in danger after Bhuvneshwar Kumar inflicted a direct hit. However, the replays show that Mitchell made his ground in the nick of time.

New Zealand 17/1 in 2.4 overs

India on the money in the early stages of the game. Arshdeep Singh just gave away three runs in the second over, and the danger man, Tim Seifert, has also been removed. Daryl Mitchell is the new player in the middle and has joined Finn Allen.

New Zealand 11/1 in 2 overs.

The left-arm pacer provides the opening breakthrough to India, and Tim Seifert walks back after scoring seven runs. The right-hander looked to slog it on the legside, but ended up mistiming it, only to hand a simple catch to Tilak Varma.

New Zealand 9/1 in 1.3 overs.

The early few deliveries have made it clear there's no movement of the pitch for both Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Arshdeep Singh. This could be a long day in the field for India if they don't get early wickets.

New Zealand 9/0 in 1.2 overs

Eight runs in the first over of the game. Finn Allen got off the mark on his very first delivery while Bhuvneshwar Kumar closed out the over with a dot ball. Respectable start to the game.

New Zealand 8/0 after 1 over.

Tim Seifert has had enough. No more blocking. The right-hander goes aerial and the ball is deposited into the stands in the long-on region. A maximum. He then gets off the strike on the next delivery. Solid intent up top. New Zealand are up and running.

New Zealand 7/0 in 0.4 overs

Bhuvneshwar Kumar drops it a tad short, and Tim Seifert just plays it straight to the fielder. A dot ball to start the proceedings. The experienced campaigner follows it up with a similar delivery and the result is the same. Good start for India

New Zealand 0/0 in 0.2 overs

Out come the New Zealand openers - Finn Allen and Tim Seifert. Bhuvneshwar Kumar has the ball in his hand. The proceedings are about to get underway in the 2nd T20I in Christchurch. Kim Cotton and Shaun Haig are the two on-field umpires, while the TV umpire is Cory Black.

India's head coach gets the proceedings underway in Christchurch! He rings the bell at the Hagley Oval. Out come the players for the national anthems. India's anthem first and it will be followed by New Zealand's.

Shreyas seemed like a relieved man at the toss, and why wouldn't he be? India kept the threat of jet lag at bay to win the series opener. When asked about his decision to bowl, he said he made the call based on the dew factor.

Here's what he said: We're going to bowl first. That's one of the reasons (On dew being a factor). We have had a little bit of time to recover and catch up on some sleep. Everyone is in decent shape, I would say. Some of the players, including myself, do their training on match day. So, we are in a good place.

Ishan is injured, so Vaibhav comes in for him. Prince comes in for Mayank, which is just a tactical change. Vaibhav is going to bat at number three.

Simon Doull and Stephen Fleming reckon that the pitch will be a cracker for batters, and one should expect another high-scoring contest. The 2nd T20I is being played on the same surface as the series opener. There's good grass cover, so expect the pitch to hold up for the full 40 overs.

New Zealand also made one change to their playing XI, bringing in Jacob Duffy in the place of Adam Milne.

Here are the full lineups:

India: Sanju Samson(w), Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Shreyas Iyer(c), Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Naman Dhir, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Prince Yadav.

New Zealand: Finn Allen, Tim Seifert(w), Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Bevon Jacobs, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner(c), Nathan Smith, Matt Henry, Jacob Duffy, Lockie Ferguson.

India captain Shreyas Iyer wins toss, opts to bowl. Two changes for India in the playing XI as the visitors bring in Vaibhav Sooryavanshi for the injured Ishan Kishan. Prince Yadav also replaces Mayank Yadav. Shreyas Iyer confirms that Sooryavanshi will bat at No.3.

The decision to bowl first comes as no surprise, as dew is expected to play a key role in the 2nd T20I.

The live visuals from the ground show Ishan Kishan keeping it light inside the team huddle, and the entire camp is all smiles. The wicketkeeper-batter might not be playing, but he for sure knows how to make his presence felt.

We are just minutes away from the flip of the coin.

If Vaibhav Sooryavanshi eventually gets a match, then he might open the batting alongside Abhishek Sharma. If this happens, then Sanju Samson would walk out to bat at No.3. This is the same combination that played in the Asian Games, where the Shreyas Iyer-led team eventually won gold.

There's no rain threat today as well. It's bright sunshine in Christchurch, and the weather is perfect for a T20I contest. Both the Indian and New Zealand players are training and going through the pre-match rituals.

The toss is less than half an hour away, and the 2nd T20I promises to be another high-scoring contest.

Another Indian team took the field on Saturday as the A side battled it out against New Zealand A. India, which had stars like Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan and Dhruv Jurel, folded up for 113 in the first innings on a green top.

New Zealand A then ended the day at 135/3, extending their lead to 22 runs. Skipper Rhys Mariu played a 76-run knock, and he formed a 132-run opening stand with Curtis Heaphy. Auqib Nabi and Mukesh Choudhary then scalped three wickets in the final few minutes to stage a minor comeback for India.

India might have won the series opener, but one cannot deny the struggles with the bowling. The Christchurch T20I saw the Men in Blue concede 225 runs, with Bhuvneshwar Kumar having a day to forget. It would be interesting to see whether the visitors bolster their bowling attack by bringing back Varun Chakaravarthy or Kuldeep Yadav into the playing XI.

Ishan Kishan, who sustained a low-grade right adductor strain during the first T20I, has already been ruled out of the second T20I. The Men’s Selection Committee on Friday added Kumar Kushagra to the squad as cover for the second T20I.

With Kishan being sidelined, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is likely to feature in the playing XI. Earlier, batting coach Sitanshu Kotak said that the 15-year-old is the frontrunner to get a game in Christchurch.

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the 2nd T20I between India and New Zealand. Toss will take place at 12 PM and live action will begin at 12:30 PM IST. Stay tuned as we bring you all the important details and updates.