By NajamSports Team | November 7, 2026
India have taken a 2-0 lead in the five-match ODI series, beating New Zealand by four runs on the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method in a rain-ruined second ODI at Hnry Stadium, Wellington, on Saturday. New Zealand were bowled out for just 134 in 41 overs of a match already reduced to 47 overs a side, and India were 113 for 7 in 26 overs, four runs ahead of the DLS par score of 109, when the rain returned and never relented. The umpires waited until the 11:00 PM local cut-off, the covers came off once, a 37-over resumption was announced with India needing 20 more, and then the drizzle came back and ended it. A win is a win, but this one was decided by four runs and a weather radar.
What Happened?
Shubman Gill won the toss and bowled first after a delayed start, and his young pace attack did to New Zealand exactly what it had done in Auckland three days earlier, only worse. New Zealand were 29 for 3 inside the powerplay, and they never recovered. Daryl Mitchell fought alone with 55 off 104 balls, sharing a 59-run stand with captain Mitchell Santner, who made 31, but the rest of the batting folded around them.
The wrecking ball was Gurnoor Brar. The tall Punjab quick took a career-best 4 for 30 in his 10 overs, including a double strike in the 20th over that removed Tom Latham for 7 and Glenn Phillips for a duck, and then returned to dismiss Nathan Smith for 9. Auqib Nabi took 2 for 31 with the new ball, Anshul Kamboj 2 for 25, Axar Patel 2 for 28, and India sent down 176 dot balls. New Zealand lost their last three wickets for eight runs and were all out for 134. There was also a nasty moment when Blair Tickner was struck on the helmet by a Kamboj bouncer and later replaced by concussion substitute Matthew Fisher.
The Chase: 40 for 3, Then the Rain Decided It
The chase of 135 began like a horror show for India. Jacob Duffy removed Gill for a duck in the second over, then dismissed Virat Kohli for 7, caught at cover, and when Kyle Jamieson had Rohit Sharma caught at slip for 23, India were 40 for 3. Rohit's two sixes did carry a record with them, he now has 51 ODI sixes against New Zealand, passing Shahid Afridi's 50, but the record was no comfort at 40 for 3.
Virat Kohli batting for India in ODI colours. His early wicket for 7 left India's chase wobbling at 17 for 2. File photo: Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul steadied it with a 39-run stand, Iyer making 30 before Jamieson got him, and Rahul, unbeaten on 25, hit the six that dragged India back ahead of the par score. Naman Dhir made 12, Kamboj fell for 1, and at 113 for 7 in the 26th over the rain arrived. That was the whole match. The par score was 109, India were four ahead, and when the umpires finally called it off at 15:35 IST, four runs was the margin. New Zealand will feel hard done by, and honestly, they have a point: India still needed 22 more runs with only three wickets in hand, and one more wicket could have flipped the DLS equation entirely, but the weather never gave them the chance to bowl again.
Our Analysis: The Prediction Was Right, the Method Was Not
Let me be straight about my own call first. In our match preview I predicted an India win by four wickets chasing, and a 2-0 lead. The winner and the lead were right; the margin and the method were not, it was four runs, not four wickets, and the rain, not the batting, finished the job. I also warned that if Mitchell and Glenn Phillips batted 25 overs together, the whole analysis would go out of the window. They did not get the chance, Brar removed them both in one over, and that is the real story of this match.
That story is India's second-string pace attack, and it is now a two-match pattern, not a one-off. In Auckland, four quicks with barely a season of ODI cricket between them bowled New Zealand out for 185. In Wellington, the same group did it for 134, with Brar taking 4 for 30 after his 3 for 44 in the first game. Seven wickets in two ODIs, at genuine pace and awkward bounce, and he is now second only to Javagal Srinath among Indian pacers for ODI figures on New Zealand soil. When Jasprit Bumrah is rested and your back-up quicks are doing this, your bowling depth is not a worry, it is a weapon.
But here is the part India should not ignore, because it is the same crack showing twice. India's top order has now collapsed in both ODIs: a duck for Rohit in Auckland, and 40 for 3 here with Gill, Kohli and Rohit all gone inside nine overs. In the first game Kohli's 74 papered over it. Today there was no rescue act, only Rahul's calm 25 not out and the rain. If this top three fails together in Hamilton, there will be no DLS par score to hide behind. For New Zealand, the problem is even simpler and even worse: 185 and 134 in two games, with only Mitchell offering resistance in either. Two totals, one batter, and a series slipping away.
Wellington Regional Stadium (Hnry Stadium), Wellington, where rain cut the match short twice and finally ended it with India four runs ahead on DLS. File photo: Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).
What Happens Next?
The series moves to Hamilton for the third ODI on Tuesday, November 10, and the final two games are at Mount Maunganui. India need one more win to take the series, and on current form they should get it, but the weather and the top order are the two things that can still hurt them. New Zealand, meanwhile, need to find runs from someone other than Daryl Mitchell, and quickly. If you missed how the tour started, our report on the first ODI at Eden Park has Kohli's 74 and two world records in one innings, and our report on Seifert's 93 in the Hamilton T20I is a reminder that this New Zealand side can still hurt India on its day.
Conclusion
India won the second ODI by four runs on DLS, bowling New Zealand out for 134 and sitting four runs ahead of par at 113 for 7 when the Wellington rain ended the match. Gurnoor Brar's career-best 4 for 30 was the performance of the day, Daryl Mitchell's lone 55 was New Zealand's only resistance, and Rohit Sharma passed Shahid Afridi for the most ODI sixes against New Zealand. Series score: India 2, New Zealand 0, with Hamilton next on Tuesday.
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Sources
- NDTV live blog, New Zealand vs India, 2nd ODI, Hnry Stadium, Wellington, November 7, 2026
- Cricbuzz / PTI brief scores, New Zealand 134 all out in 41 overs, November 7, 2026
- News18, Rohit Sharma most ODI sixes vs New Zealand (51, past Afridi's 50), November 7, 2026
- Rediff / Outlook India, Gurnoor Brar's 4/30 second-best ODI figures by an Indian pacer in New Zealand, November 7, 2026