Wellington: A target of 135 looked like a formality. Then India were 113 for 7 in 26 overs, and the rain arrived. They won by four runs.
Put in to bat on Saturday, New Zealand were bowled out for 134 in 41 overs. Daryl Mitchell top-scored with 55 off 104 balls and captain Mitchell Santner made 31 off 38. Nobody else stayed long enough to matter.
Gurnoor Brar took 4 for 30 in 10 overs, his best figures in the format, and the spell that turned the innings was a double-wicket maiden in which he removed Tom Latham and Glenn Phillips without conceding a run. Auqib Nabi, Anshul Kamboj and Axar Patel picked up two wickets each. Brar was named Player of the Match.
The chase wobbled immediately. Jacob Duffy had Shubman Gill caught for a golden duck with his first delivery and removed Virat Kohli in his next over. Rohit Sharma made 23, Shreyas Iyer 30 and K.L. Rahul was unbeaten on 26 when the weather closed in. Duffy and Kyle Jamieson took three wickets apiece.
The more lasting story is in the numbers. Kohli made only seven, but those seven carried him past Ricky Ponting as the highest run-scorer in ODIs against New Zealand. Ponting finished on 1,971. Kohli's tally now stands at about 1,978, with Sachin Tendulkar third on 1,750. He reached the mark in his 38th innings against New Zealand, a record that includes seven centuries and eleven fifties.
Rohit had his own milestone. Two sixes in his 28-ball 23 took him to 51 ODI sixes against New Zealand, past Shahid Afridi's 50. There was a team record too: this was India's 11th ODI win over New Zealand in a calendar year, the most by any side. Australia had previously managed 10.
Before the start, with rain delaying the toss, Rahul was struggling to get his second jersey to sit right at the neck. Support staff brought out a pair of scissors, and Kohli stepped in to help pull the inner shirt's sleeves into place. The clip travelled quickly.
The third ODI is at Seddon Park in Hamilton on Tuesday, November 10. India won the opener as well, and a series win is now one good afternoon away.