India's middle order faces a seaming Wellington pitch as Siraj pushes for a recall

India return to Wellington a match up in the series with their top three carrying the batting and Mohammed Siraj pressing for a place in the attack

India lead the five-match series 1-0 after a rain-shortened win at Eden Park, and arrive at Sky Stadium for Saturday's second one-day international having seen their middle order tested for the first time on this tour.

Virat Kohli's 74 and a 113-run stand with captain Shubman Gill, who made 37, settled the chase in Auckland after Rohit Sharma fell for a six-ball duck in the first over. It was Kohli's 80th half-century in one-day internationals.

What followed was briefer and less comfortable. Jacob Duffy removed Kohli, Axar Patel for 0 and Shreyas Iyer for 15 inside eight balls, and India finished on 143 for 5 with 56 balls to spare against a Duckworth-Lewis-Stern target of 143 from 32 overs.

Top three do the scoring

India's batting in the opener leaned on the men at the top, as it has for much of the tour. Kohli's innings was the only one past 40 by either side.

Rohit's dismissal, caught by Mitchell Santner off Kyle Jamieson, left India a wicket down in the first over of the reply. The stand between Kohli and Gill then took them within sight of the revised target.

Below them nobody was asked to bat long. Naman Dhir saw the chase home once the three wickets had gone.

Duffy's eight balls

Duffy finished with 3-49 and gave New Zealand the one passage of the chase they will take to Wellington with any confidence.

Axar and Iyer were both hurried by short bowling, and KL Rahul looked unsettled by the same length. Nathan Smith had removed Gill for 37 shortly before Duffy's burst.

Santner, who captains New Zealand, said of the Auckland surface: "I think the pitch probably bounced and, you know, it was probably a little bit faster than we kind of expected at Eden Park." He added that his side "didn't adapt as quick as we could" and credited India's bowling.

Siraj pushes for a recall

Mohammed Siraj is expected to come in for Auqib Nabi, who went wicketless for 33 from six overs at Eden Park, with cloud cover forecast in Wellington and the new ball likely to decide a good deal.

The rest of the attack picks itself. Arshdeep Singh took 4-70, Gurnoor Brar 3-44, and Anshul Kamboj conceded 22 runs from his ten overs for two wickets and was named player of the match.

New Zealand's batting thins further

New Zealand were bowled out for 185, with Tim Seifert's 38 the top score and Blair Tickner striking 34 from 23 balls at the end of the innings. No New Zealand batter reached 40.

They are without Devon Conway for the rest of the series after a concussion sustained in a collision with Matt Henry at training. Nick Kelly was called up as his replacement and joined the squad in Wellington on Friday.

Rachin Ravindra, who dislocated a shoulder in September, and Mark Chapman, with a hamstring injury, were unavailable before the series began, with Henry Nicholls recalled for the first three matches. Henry has passed his head-injury tests and is in contention to play.

What Wellington is likely to ask

The pitch at Sky Stadium is expected to assist the seamers, and with cloud forecast through Saturday, whoever bats first will need patience in the opening overs.

India are not expected to rearrange their order. Axar is likely to bat at five ahead of Rahul, with Dhir at seven, and Axar is set to be the only frontline spinner in the side.

New Zealand are a batter short and a match behind, and their batting was the clear weakness of the opener.

A win on Saturday would put India 2-0 up, with the third one-day international in Hamilton on November 10.