India win the rain-shortened second ODI by four runs on DLS to lead New Zealand 2-0

India were four runs clear of the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern par score when rain ended the second ODI in Wellington, and the decision to call the match off handed them a 2-0 series lead

Play stopped at Sky Stadium with India 113 for 7 after 26 overs of a chase of 135. New Zealand needed three wickets, India needed 22 runs, and the par score at that moment was 109.

The covers went on and stayed on. A restart was pencilled in for later in the evening and then washed away by heavier rain, and once the cut-off for a resumption passed the match was called off with India declared winners by four runs under DLS.

It is a second straight win for Shubman Gill's side, who took the series opener in Auckland. India had been in front for almost all of a shortened day before the weather closed in.

New Zealand lose three inside nine overs

Gill chose to bowl after rain had already pushed the start back, and the decision looked right almost at once. Auqib Nabi had Tim Seifert caught for a five-ball duck, then found the edge of Will Young, who made 6 from 17 balls.

Anshul Kamboj bowled Henry Nicholls for 11 to leave the hosts 23 for 3. The innings never recovered its shape.

Mitchell holds an end for 104 balls

Daryl Mitchell made the only half-century of the match, 55 from 104 balls with five fours and two sixes, batting around a top order that had already gone.

He found one partner. Mitchell Santner hit 31 from 38 and the pair added 59 for the sixth wicket, the single stand of substance in the innings.

Santner's dismissal started the end of it. Glenn Phillips fell for a four-ball duck, Tom Latham made 7 from 22, and New Zealand were all out for 134 in 41 overs, Kamboj bowling Blair Tickner for 2 to finish the job.

A career-best for Brar

Gurnoor Brar returned 4 for 30 from his full 10 overs, the best figures of his one-day international career, taking Latham and Phillips either side of Santner before adding a fourth.

They are the third-best ODI figures by an India bowler in New Zealand, behind Anil Kumble's 5-33 at the same ground in 1994 and Javagal Srinath's 4-23 in Auckland in 2002.

Axar Patel took 2 for 28 and Nabi 2 for 31. Arshdeep Singh, who had taken four wickets in the first match of the series, was the only one of the five bowlers to finish without one.

Duffy and Jamieson make a chase of it

India's reply started badly. Jacob Duffy had Gill caught at second slip without the captain facing a second ball, then removed Virat Kohli for 7 from 7, caught at cover-point.

Rohit Sharma made 23 from 28 before edging Kyle Jamieson to second slip. The wickets kept coming, and Jamieson finished with 3 for 35 from his 10 overs.

KL Rahul was the one batter to settle, unbeaten on 26 from 38 balls with two fours and two sixes when the rain arrived.

The weather has the last word

Rain had shaped the match from the outset, delaying the start and cutting the overs before a ball was bowled.

Once play stopped, overs came off at one every four minutes. India were already above par, so each over lost moved them closer to the result rather than away from it.

The four runs between their score and the par figure were the whole of the margin, and the only thing either side could do about it was wait.

Scorecard: New Zealand 134 in 41 overs (Daryl Mitchell 55, Mitchell Santner 31; Gurnoor Brar 4-30, Axar Patel 2-28, Auqib Nabi 2-31); India 113 for 7 in 26 overs (KL Rahul 26*, Rohit Sharma 23; Kyle Jamieson 3-35). India won by 4 runs (DLS method).