India Vs New Zealand 1st T20I LIVE Score: Bhuvneshwar Sets Tone With A Tight Opening Over | NZ 12/0 (2)

First boundary of the match! Arshdeep Singh comes into bowl for India in th second over. India are trying to cramp Kiwi batters for room to hit the ball.

After two singles on consecutive deliveries, Arshdeep Singh bowls a full delivery on off stump, with no swing on offer. Finn Allen latches on to it, and sends the bowl towards mid-off for a boundary. The first boundary of the match.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar start the innings in classic manner as he swings the ball, going away from the batter.

Drama in the first over! Axar Patel nearly pulls off a stunning run-out with a sharp underarm direct hit from backward point. Seifert dives full stretch to make his ground. After a close review by the TV umpire, it's confirmed that the bat was safely grounded just before the bails came off. Seifert survives a major scare.

India's 40-day long tour of New Zealand is just about to begin. Indian players taking on the field as Kiwi batters comes out. Tim Seifert takes the strike and Fin Allen is on the non-strikes.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar with the ball starts the match.

Players are out on the field for the National Anthem. India's National Anthem plays first as they are the visiting team.

India (Playing XI): Sanju Samson(w), Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer(c), Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Naman Dhir, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Mayank Yadav

Mayank comes in for Prince, with Nitish also coming in for Dube.

New Zealand (Playing XI): Finn Allen, Tim Seifert(w), Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Bevon Jacobs, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner(c), Nathan Smith, Adam Milne, Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson

"We were going to bowl. Looks a fresh wicket. Guys are really excited for a big series. It's cool to play against India. The depth we've got is really good. (On Bevon Jacobs) He's shown what he can do, lot of power in the middle-order," said Santner.

India have won the toss and opt to bowl first.

"We'll bowl first. Quick turnaround, got to see how the wicket will play. Pretty well, a lot of them took time to get used to the conditions. Everyone is professional. A lot of positives, especially in the batting. Bowling-wise, it wasn't easy to bowl. Reddy and Mayank come in," Shreyas said after the toss.

• Total Matches Played: 12

• India Won: 6

• New Zealand Won: 5

• Tied: 1

• Total Matches: 31

• India Won: 19

• New Zealand Won: 11

• Tied: 1

The pitch at the Hagley Oval favours bowlers to an extent with an average score of 153, which can be considered decent, keeping the recently concluded India vs West Indies series in mind, where 220+ scores were breached regularly.

The match will played at the Hagley Oval, Christchurch. As per the local time the match is scheduled to start at 8 PM, which makes the conditions a bit tricky for the Indian side.

Mitchell Santner has already warned the Indian side of the cold conditions New Zealand can provide, and the late start will make it hard for Indian batters as a bit of extra bounce and nip can come into play.

Dew is also expected to kick in, making the toss a bit more crucial as it will be hard to grip the ball in the latter half of the game.

The weather forecast for Thursday points towards mostly sunny conditions in Christchurch, with a predicted high of around 24°C and a low of approximately 11°C. Weather Atlas puts the chance of precipitation at about 6%, with no measurable rainfall expected

The first match between India and New Zealand will start at 12:30 PM IST, and fans can enjoy the live action by tuning in to Sony Sports Network and SonyLIV.

India: Shreyas Iyer (C), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Ishan Kishan (WK), Tilak Varma, Axar Patel, Shivam Dube, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Naman Dhir, Prince Yadav, Mayank Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Varun Chakaravarthy and Kuldeep Yadav.

New Zealand: Mitchell Santner (captain), Finn Allen, Michael Bracewell, Josh Clarkson, Devon Conway, Jacob Duffy, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Bevon Jacobs, Kyle Jamieson, Adam Milne, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Tim Seifert, Nathan Smith and Blair Tickner. Clarkson and Tickner replaced the injured Mark Chapman and Zak Foulkes.

Helloooooo, Outlook Sports readers! How are we doing today? We’re doing fantastic and looking forward to Bhuvi’s return. (Could be a little biased here, or maybe not. Just kidding, just kidding!) Stay tuned for all the live updates from India vs New Zealand. We have plenty to look forward to!