India vs New Zealand, 2nd T20I as it happened: Rohit, Rahul power hosts to 7-wicket win

India win by 7 wickets!

Pant finishes it off with back-to-back sixes off Neesham. An impressive series win for Rohit and Co.

IND 143/3 after 17 overs: Trent Boult bowls with pace but Venkatesh Iyer gets an outside edge for four to end the over. India need 11 off 18.

IND 137/3 after 16 overs: OUT! Suryakumar chops one on and Southee has two wickets in one over. India need 17 off 24. The new batter is Pant.

IND 135/2 after 15.3 overs: OUT! Rohit (55 off 36) departs after getting a half-century. A soft dismissal to what was a fine knock from the India captain. He chipped it straight to cover. The new batter is Suryakumar.

IND 134/1 after 15 overs: Fifty for Rohit! He gets there off 35 balls with a trademark pull for six. Expensive over from Milne. India are motoring towards the series win.

IND 117/1 after 13.2 overs: OUT! New Zealand finally break the opening stand. Rahul pulls it in the air and finds the fielder in the deep. He walks back for a superb 65 off 49. The new batter is Venkatesh Iyer.

IND 116/0 after 13 overs: Rohit has gone after Santner big time. Another six over the leg side boundary. 4-0-33-0 for the spinner.

HUNDRED PARTNERSHIP: India 105/0 after 12 overs. Rohit Sharma brings up the 5th T20I century stand (and 4th as openers), both joint most in men’s T20Is.

Boult on. Southee needs a wicket. Now.

IND 92/0 after 11 overs: Good over for India. Southee perhaps thought he could bring on Milne just after the 10-over mark to see if India will play an over out. Didn’t work out that way.

HALF CENTURY: With a flat six over extra cover, KL Rahul reaches his 16th T20I fifty and continues his fantastic recent form. Clear plans to go after Milne it would seem. Hits another four next ball, moves on 55 off 41 balls.

Milne returns.

IND 79/0 after 10 overs: India get the big over they needed! Rohit with two sixes! Santner drops one short and gets pulled before bowling one in the slot and getting hoicked over long-on. To make matters worse for NZ, Boult drops a catch running in from long-on. Rohit attempted another big one but mistimed it, Boult did well to get to it but couldn’t hold on. India need 75 off 60.

IND 63/0 after 9 overs: This time Sodhi concedes just six runs. There’s a bit of desperation creeping in to Rohit and Rahul’s batting, they know they need to pick boundaries. It’s been 24 balls since India hit one.

IND 57/0 after 8 overs: Another quiet over from Santner, he has figures of 0/6 from two overs so far. India seem to have gone into a shell, need to pick up pace soon.

IND 52/0 after 7 overs: Sodhi comes on to bowl and manages to not concede a boundary in his first over. New Zealand were well ahead at this stage, but India will back themselves to pace the chase efficiently.

IND 45/0 after 6 overs: Shot! Rahul takes his front foot out of the way and deposits one over cover for six. Incredible shot, he hit that off the back foot. Ten runs come from Boult’s second over. India need 109 off 94.

IND 35/0 after 5 overs: Southee returns to the attack and concedes just three singles. New Zealand can finish the powerplay in a promising position if they pick a wicket before the powerplay ends.

IND 32/0 after 4 overs: Big over! Milne joins the attack and Rahul flicks one over mid-wicket for four before Rohit plays a trademark front-foot pull for six. This is a solid start to the chase for the hosts.

IND 18/0 after 3 overs: Santner joins the attack and bowls a superb first over, just two runs from it. India need 136 off 102.

IND 16/0 after 2 overs: Boult’s first over starts with a four and ends with a four. Rahul with a glorious on-the-rise cover drive first up, before picking up his third boundary of the innings with a punch down the ground.

IND 8/0 after 1 over: Southee gets the first ball to shape away and Rahul gets a thick outside edge past the slip cordon for four. There’s a break in play then as wicketkeeper Seifert’s foot somehow digs a big hole behind the stumps as he runs towards it. The ground staff does some repair work and we’re good to go again.

9.08 pm: Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul are out in the middle. India need 154 to clinch the series. Here we go!

New Zealand finish with 153/6

This has been a fine fightback with the ball by India. New Zealand were 64/1 at the end of the powerplay but struggled to build partnerships thereafter.

NZ 146/6 after 19 overs: Harshal finishes a fine spell on his debut, just six runs come from his last over as he returns with figures of 2/25. Can Santner and Milne take NZ to 170?

NZ 140/6 after 18 overs: OUT! Bhuvneshwar gets Neesham early! The left-hander swings hard and gets an edge to Pant. India continue to chip away. The new batter is Milne.

NZ 137/5 after 16.3 overs: OUT! Harshal gets his second wicket. Phillips (34 off 21) pulls it to Gaikwad in the deep as New Zealand lose half their side.

NZ 128/4 after 16 overs: Ashwin finishes with wonderful figures of 1/19 from his four overs. The new batter for NZ is Neesham.

NZ 125/4 after 15.1 overs: OUT! Ashwin bowls it flatter and Seifert (13 off 15) plays a reverse sweep straight to short third.

NZ 125/3 after 15 overs: SIX! This time Bhuvneshwar drops it a bit short and Phillips pulls it straight for six. Incredible how he generated so much power in that shot. India will be hoping to concede not more than 50 runs in the last five overs.

NZ 114/3 after 14 overs: SIX! Chahar drops it short and Phillips pulls it for a maximum. The right-hander moves on to 17 off 13.

NZ 102/3 after 13 overs: Axar gets cut by Phillips for four to end his spell. But he returns with impressive figures of 1/26 from his four overs.

NZ 90/3 after 11.2 overs: OUT! Harshal Patel gets his first wicket in international cricket! Daryl Mitchell gets caught by Suryakumar Yadav at long-on and walks back for 31 off 28. The new batter is Seifert.

NZ 90/2 after 11 overs: Dropped! Phillips hits a low full toss from Axar straight to long-off but Venkatesh Iyer makes a meal of it. He juggled the ball but couldn’t hold on. The dew is definitely making things difficult but that’s the second catch dropped by India so far tonight.

NZ 84/2 after 10 overs: Another top over from Ashwin. He got Phillips for a duck in the last game and he’s troubling him once again. The right-hander just about survived that over.

NZ 79/2 after 8.5 overs: OUT! Axar strikes! Chapman tries to go big but finds Rahul at long-off. India rewarded for building pressure over the last few overs. The new batter is Glenn Phillips.

NZ 73/1 after 8 overs: Good over from Ashwin as well, just four singles from it. The off-spinner is mixing it up nicely once again.

NZ 69/1 after 7 overs: Good start from Harshal, just five runs come from his first over. India need more such quiet overs to build pressure.

Debutant Harshal Patel is joining the attack now.

NZ 64/1 after 6 overs: Ashwin joins the attack and concedes just four singles off the first five deliveries, but Chapman places the last one in the gap on the leg side for four. That was an incredible powerplay for NZ, they’ve set themselves up for a strong total.

NZ 48/1 after 4.2 overs: OUT! Chahar gets Guptill (31 off 15) again! The right-hander was looking in fine touch and going for broke, but this time he gets a top edge and Pant takes the catch. The new batter is Chapman.

NZ 42/0 after 4 overs: Bhuvneshwar changes ends and bowls another expensive over. Guptill thumps one straight over for six before getting hit on his helmet by a bouncer. The physio checks on him and he carries on. Mitchell then pulls one hard over mid-wicket for four. There’s a lot of dew and the ball is coming on nicely.

NZ 29/0 after 3 overs: Axar comes on to bowl and pulls things back for India, five runs come from the left-arm spinner’s first over.

NZ 24/0 after 2 overs: Another big over for New Zealand! This time Mitchell plays two stylish straight drives off Chahar for fours. India under pressure early in the contest.

NZ 14/0 after 1 over: Drama in the first over! Bhuvneshwar gets Guptill’s outside edge first up but the ball flies past the slip fielder for four. The right-hander then gets a thick edge over the off side ring for another four. He then attempts another big hit and survives, Rahul runs back from mid-off but doesn’t hold on to the catch. He got both hands to it and should’ve taken it. Guptill finally ends the over with another four, this time with a drive over mid-off.

7.00 pm: We’re ready for play in Ranchi. Daryl Mitchell and Martin Guptill are at the crease. Bhuvneshwar Kumar has the new ball in hand. Here we go!

Playing XIs:

New Zealand: Martin Guptill, Daryl Mitchell, Mark Chapman, Glenn Phillips, Tim Seifert (w), James Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee (c), Adam Milne, Trent Boult.

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

6.32 pm: One change for India – Mohammed Siraj (got injured in the previous game) replaced by Harshal Patel.

Toss:

Rohit Sharma has won the toss (again!) and India will bowl first (again).

6.26 pm: After Venkatesh Iyer in the opener, it’s Harshal Patel who will be making his debut tonight. He gets his cap from former India pacer Ajit Agarkar.

6.20 pm: Hello and welcome to live coverage of the second T20 International between India and New Zealand in Ranchi.