Christchurch: Ishan Kishan's injury opened the door for 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi in the second T20 against New Zealand at Hagley Oval on Saturday, as India captain Shreyas Iyer won the toss and chose to bowl first.
Kishan was ruled out of the match with a low-grade right adductor strain sustained in the series opener. Kumar Kushagra was added to the squad as cover. India's batting coach Sitanshu Kotak had hinted before the game that Sooryavanshi could step in.
New Zealand made 180 for five in their 20 overs. Glenn Phillips top-scored with 70 off 43 balls and Bevon Jacobs made 56 from 46, the pair adding 116 for the fourth wicket after the hosts slipped to 41 for three inside the powerplay. India need 181 to win and take a 2-0 lead in the series. For India, Arshdeep Singh took two wickets, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Prince Yadav and Nitish Kumar Reddy took one each.
Bhuvneshwar took the wicket of Daryl Mitchell, his first for India since returning to the side after four years; he had gone wicketless in the first match. India lead the five-match series 1-0 after winning the opener by four wickets, a game in which Sanju Samson made 67 off 33 balls.
Sooryavanshi, who became the youngest to make his India debut at 15, was the Player of the Series in the T20Is against Zimbabwe and also played the Asian Games semi-final and final for India. New Zealand's spinners Mitchell Santner and Michael Bracewell shared four wickets in the first game.