Rain decided a tight second ODI in Wellington, with India four runs ahead of the par score when play was called off. The win gave India an unassailable-looking 2-0 lead in the five-match series.

India bowled New Zealand out for 134 in 41 overs in Wellington, then reached 113 for 7 in 26 overs when rain brought the match to an end. India were four runs ahead of the DLS par score of 109 at that stage and were declared winners by four runs. The match had been reduced to 47 overs a side before it began. New Zealand batted first and never found fluency on a surface that offered help to the bowlers, losing wickets at regular intervals through the innings. Daryl Mitchell top-scored for the hosts with 55, while captain Mitchell Santner made 31. Gurnoor Brar led the Indian attack with four wickets for 30 runs, and Axar Patel, Anshul Kamboj and Auqib Nabi took two wickets each.

A chase that never got going

India's chase was far from smooth. Shreyas Iyer made 30 and KL Rahul was unbeaten on 26 when the rain arrived, but wickets fell around them and the visitors were seven down with the target still in the balance. Kyle Jamieson took three wickets for 35 runs and kept India under pressure through the middle overs. The surface made stroke play difficult, and India never managed a partnership big enough to settle the chase. Captain Shubman Gill said after the match: "As long as we get the win. It wasn't easy batting. Getting them out at 134, I thought it'll be an easy target, but it wasn't. Happy we got there in the end."

Santner calls it a tricky wicket

New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner described the surface as a tricky wicket, a fair summary of a day on which neither side found batting easy. The hosts will take some comfort from how close they ran India despite posting only 134. Gurnoor Brar was named Player of the Match for his four wickets, a reward for a spell that broke the New Zealand innings open. His double-wicket over, in which he dismissed Tom Latham and Glenn Phillips, was the turning point of the first innings.

Series moves to Hamilton

The third ODI will be played in Hamilton on Tuesday, 10 November. India lead the five-match series 2-0, and another win there would seal the series with two matches still to play. New Zealand have now lost both matches of the series after also going down in the first ODI. They will need a win in Hamilton to keep the series alive.