India Vs New Zealand Live Score, 2nd T20I: Bhuvneshwar Kumar picks Daryl Mitchell; NZ are two down vs IND at Christchurch

India (IND) Vs New Zealand (NZ) Live Cricket Score, 2nd T20I: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi comes in for injured Ishan Kishan and Prince Yadav gets into the side as a tactical change for Mayanak Yadav in the 2nd T20I on Saturday

India Vs New Zealand Live Score, 2nd T20I: Bhuvneshwar Kumar picked up Daryl Mitchell. Earlier, Shreyas Iyer’s India won the toss and opted to bowl first against Mitchell Santner’s New Zealand in the second of the five-match T20I series at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch on Saturday. The visitors have already won the first match and lead the series 1-0.

India vs New Zealand 2nd T20 live scorecard: Watch here

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Although India won at various points with both bat and ball, they looked a bit rusty, which can be attributed to the quick turnaround from the fifth T20I in Bengaluru against West Indies. However, they played some solid cricket during that match.

New Zealand, on the other hand, took time to get into the game, especially with the ball. Spinners Mitchell Santner and Michael Bracewell brought them into the contest with a few quick wickets, but the damage in the powerplay was too great for them to get a positive result.

Scroll down to follow live updates of India vs New Zealand 2nd T20I

Live Updates
Oct 24, 2026 12:57 PM IST
India Vs New Zealand Live Score: NZ 37/2 (4.4 overs) vs IND

This has been nice bowling from the Indian seamers; they have hit back-of-the-length, and since the pitch is a used one, it is stopping a little, and the New Zealand batters have still not adjusted to the conditions. They would want to reconsider what a good score is on this surface. They have too very good spinners in their side so 180-200 might be good enough today.

Oct 24, 2026 12:47 PM IST
India Vs New Zealand Live Score: NZ 18/2 (3 overs) vs IND

Arshdeep Singh has picked up the wicket of Tim Seifer here. It was a delivery which went across the batter and he tried to hit and the ball got the outside edge and carried to the fielder inside the ring. Important wicket as we update: Bhuvneshwar Kumar has picked up his first wicket on return as Mitchell tried a whip one across and got the outside edge to Tilak Varma.

Oct 24, 2026 12:37 PM IST
India Vs New Zealand Live Score: NZ 8/0 (1.1 overs) vs IND

Bhuvneshwar Kumar has taken the new ball here for India and has started decently, giving away eight runs in that first over. There is clearly not the same seam movement available as there was in the first game. While India have picked up Prince Yadav, it might not have been a bad call to go for a spinner in this game.

Oct 24, 2026 12:30 PM IST
India Vs New Zealand Live Score: Let's go!

The national anthems here are done in Christchurch. It is another beautiful evening here, and the stadium is filled with a crowd. Expect another high-scoring affair given the power in both teams. First, though, India has the ball in hand, and they would want to restrict the scores as much as possible, and we have just been told on commentary that it is a used pitch, so expect spinners and slower bowlers to come into play more.

Oct 24, 2026 12:23 PM IST
India Vs New Zealand Live Score, 2nd T20I: Pitch Report by Simon Doull and Stephen Fleming

Another gorgeous day here in Christchurch, and expect the same throughout the rest of the evening. It'll cool down a touch from the 25-26 degree high we've had, but I'm looking forward to this evening's game. Right, we are on the same surface as we played on Thursday night. So the dimensions for you: 77m straight down the ground, 69 away to the west and 78 away to the right for the right-handers. Stephen Fleming is alongside me to tell us a little bit more about the surface. Stephen, what do you see? Well, it's very. brown in look, this time it's the middle of October, and this pitch is very brown. It has a good covering of grass, which is really good. But what it does do is give you an opportunity to see where the bowlers were bowling the other day. There are some indentations because of how thick and patchy the grass is. We're on a good length, and we talked a lot the other day about the batting, which was magnificent. So today the focus is on the bowling: what can they do? I think they were a little bit short the other day, and these indentations suggest there's a lot of work from here backwards, not so much full. But it takes courage to bowl full because these batters are so good hitting down the ground. But if there's a little bit of movement on offer, the wickets have to come into play. Expect your mid-on and your mid-off to maybe be a little bit further back, maybe hide on the edge of the circle if you want to go a little bit fuller. Surface is beautiful, the outfield looks absolutely magnificent, with a slight breeze across the ground. It's a great night for crick

Oct 24, 2026 12:19 PM IST
India Vs New Zealand Live Score, 2nd T20I: What did Mitchell Santner say at toss

(On the 1st T20I) They are a very good team, and I think we missed the mark slightly. That comes from the way they approach their game. It was a great game of cricket in the end. Losing in the last over is disappointing, but there were obviously many positives. We need to execute the small details better and see what happens. (On the preparation for this match) Training was optional. We had a morning session, and we only got back here around 2 a.m. Therefore, it was a day to refresh, especially with the games coming thick and fast. I think the guys rested well and should be ready to go today. (On the changes) Duffy comes in for Milne. With the number of games we have coming up, not just T20s but one-day internationals as well, there will be some rotation among the senior players, especially with a lot of Test cricket coming up. It is nothing to do with performance; it is just a bit of rotation, and we will see what Duffy can do tonight.

Oct 24, 2026 12:14 PM IST
India Vs New Zealand Live Score, 2nd T20I: What did Shreyas Iyer say at toss

We're going to bowl first. Yes, absolutely. 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. It is important to maintain the aggression and repeat the things we did well in the first game. In addition, we need to be proactive in the field and ensure we don't have an extra fielder inside the circle, especially in the last over. Ishan is injured, so Vaibhav comes in for him. Prince comes in for Mayank, which is just a tactical change. He is going to bat at number three (on Vaibhav's batting position)

Oct 24, 2026 12:12 PM IST
India Vs New Zealand Live Score, 2nd T20I: NZ playing XI

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

Oct 24, 2026 12:09 PM IST
India Vs New Zealand Live Score, 2nd T20I: IND playing XI

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

Oct 24, 2026 12:05 PM IST
India Vs New Zealand Live Score, 2nd T20I: Toss

Shreyas Iyer wins toss and opts to bowl first vs NZ in Christchurch

Oct 24, 2026 12:01 PM IST
India Vs New Zealand Live Score, 2nd T20I: Mitchell Santner after 1st T20I

“They put us under pressure. We knew they were going to do that, and yeah, another big powerplay from them. We weren’t probably at our best. We can sharpen up a few things, but I think we know what the ball does, so you can slow them down. I think in the middle we did well to kind of squeeze them and then again it was a tight game. So I think both teams could probably look at a few things here and there, I think could have gone either way,” Santner said after the game.

Oct 24, 2026 11:56 AM IST
India Vs New Zealand Live Score, 2nd T20I: Dinesh Karthik on Bhuvneshwar Kumar's spell

“A lot of fans may be critical, but it’s his first day back in international cricket. So cut him some slack. But he has to be aware that no-balls are not a habit he wants to develop. He knows he’s better than that. But was he as good as he could be? Definitely not,” said Karthik

Oct 24, 2026 11:45 AM IST
India Vs New Zealand Live Score, 2nd T20I: Dinesh Karthik on Bhuvneshwar Kumar

“It was the no-balls that did him in. He’s not somebody who generally bowls no-balls. I am not sure why, but it may have been a bit of nerves,” Karthik said on Cricbuzz.

“Two no-balls in a game is unheard of for him. So I would put it down to the fact that he’s not as ready as he would want to be. But if we look closely, his first and last overs were very good. However, the second and third overs had no-balls in it and that reflects in his analysis, as those were huge overs,” he added.

Oct 24, 2026 11:35 AM IST
India Vs New Zealand Live Score, 2nd T20I: Aakash Chopra on ESPNcricinfo.

“It was the turning point, because it seemed that the match might change. Maybe Mitchell Santner could have taken New Zealand to victory. But Naman Dhir had completely different intentions,” Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra said on ESPNcricinfo.

Oct 24, 2026 11:25 AM IST
India Vs New Zealand Live Score, 2nd T20I: Glenn Phillips ahead of game

“The guys at the IPL last year probably got sick of me spending an hour batting and then 45 minutes batting left-handed as well,” New Zealand’s Glenn Phillips

Oct 24, 2026 11:14 AM IST
India Vs New Zealand Live Score, 2nd T20I: Sitanshu Kotak ahead of game

“At the start, I felt there was a lot of hype that he (Vaibhav Sooryavanshi) should play. I genuinely felt that such hype is not good for a player as well, for a young 15/16-year-old boy, that everyone is saying that he should play, and he is not getting a place”

Oct 24, 2026 11:08 AM IST
India Vs New Zealand Live Score, 2nd T20I: NZ predicted XI

Tim Seifert (wk), Finn Allen, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Bevon Jacobs, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner (c), Nathan Smith, Adam Milne, Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson

Oct 24, 2026 10:55 AM IST
India Vs New Zealand Live Score, 2nd T20I: IND predicted XI

Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi/Shivam Dube, Shreyas Iyer (C), Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Naman Dhir, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Mayank Yadav

Oct 24, 2026 10:48 AM IST
India Vs New Zealand Live Score, 2nd T20I: Hola!

Hello and welcome to our live blog of India taking on New Zealand in the second T20I. It was a cracking first game, and it kind of gave a glimpse of what the series can have in it. Anyway, here for the second game at the same venue and it will be another high-scoring for sure but will be it a nail-bitter we shall see. Do stay tuned this Saturday afternoon with us; we are going to live updates and plug in our cracking pieces.

What is wrong with Axar Patel? A yard here, an inch there, and a lost touch

Axar Patel is usually unfazed by conceding occasional sixes in T20Is, relying on his resilience and ability to bounce back rather than doubting himself. However, a fierce, premeditated hit by Finn Allen—capitalizing on a delivery that was a yard slower than expected—visibly frustrated the Indian spinner, highlighting the tiny margins of error and immense pressure faced by bowlers in modern T20 cricket. (Read more from Sandip G)

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