Finn Allen's unbeaten 33 drives New Zealand to 65 for 1 in the Hagley Oval powerplay

New Zealand's openers punished India's new-ball pair in Christchurch to reach 65 for 1 at the end of the powerplay in the first T20I

New Zealand were 65 for 1 after the six powerplay overs of the first T20I against India at Hagley Oval, and had moved on to 72 for 1 inside the seventh.

Finn Allen was unbeaten on 33 from 17 balls, with four fours and a six, after Shreyas Iyer won the toss and chose to bowl.

India's one breakthrough came from Mayank Yadav, who had Tim Seifert caught behind by Sanju Samson for 24 from 17 balls with the score 49 for 1 in the fifth over.

Seifert takes 17 off Bhuvneshwar

Bhuvneshwar Kumar, back in a T20I for the first time since November 2022, gave away just four runs from his opening over.

Seifert then took 17 off the seamer's second over, driving a four and clearing long-on for six to move New Zealand to 33 without loss.

Allen had struck the first boundary of the innings off Arshdeep Singh an over earlier, and the pair added 49 before the first wicket fell.

Seifert survived a run-out review in the opening over, scrambling home after Axar Patel's underarm throw missed the stumps and the third umpire judged him in.

Mayank Yadav strikes with pace

Mayank broke the stand with a 141kph delivery that was short of a good length and wide of off stump.

Seifert followed it, took the edge, and Samson held the chance behind the stumps to end an opening stand that had come at better than ten an over.

The wicket came on the last ball of Mayank's over and left him with figures of 1-4 at that point of the innings.

Axar Patel, by contrast, went for 16 in his first over as New Zealand went after the spin.

Allen keeps the rate above 10

Allen's 17 balls had brought four fours and a six, and he passed 30 before the powerplay was out.

Daryl Mitchell joined him and was 8 from four balls, having cleared the rope once.

New Zealand's run rate stood at 10.70 a ball into the seventh over, with Glenn Phillips, Bevon Jacobs and Michael Bracewell still to bat.

Iyer's reasoning at the toss

"We'll bowl first. Quick turnaround, got to see how the wicket will play," Iyer said, pointing to the short gap between this series and India's fixtures against the West Indies.

Hagley Oval has a reputation for seam movement and bounce, and India handed the new ball to Bhuvneshwar and Arshdeep rather than open with spin.

India named Abhishek Sharma and Samson as their openers, with Ishan Kishan, Iyer, Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Naman Dhir to follow.

Mitchell Santner is leading New Zealand in what is the first of five T20Is on the tour.

First meeting since the World Cup final

The sides last met in the T20 World Cup final on 8 March at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, where India won by 96 runs after Samson's 89 from 46 balls. Seifert made 52 from 26 in that chase.

India lead the T20I head-to-head 19-11 from 31 completed meetings, with one no result.

India are without Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya for this series, and Mayank Yadav and Nitish Kumar Reddy came into the side for the opener.

New Zealand are missing Rachin Ravindra, who dislocated a shoulder, along with Mark Chapman and Zak Foulkes, both ruled out earlier this month. Michael Bracewell and Adam Milne have returned from injury.

Powerplay: New Zealand 65 for 1 in six overs — Finn Allen 33 not out from 17 balls, Daryl Mitchell 8 not out; Mayank Yadav 1-4.

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