Mid-Day

New Zealand defeated India by one run in the second Twenty20 international at the Chidambaram stadium in Chennai on Tuesday.

India, chasing New Zealand's 167-5, were restricted to 166-4 despite Virat Kohli's 70 off 41 balls.

Yuvraj Singh in action during his innings of 34. Pic/AFP

Indian all-rounder Yuvraj Singh bowled two overs, took a catch and scored 34 runs off 26 balls in his first international outing after being treated for cancer earlier this year.

The opening game of the two-match series, a tune-up for next week's World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka, was washed out without a ball being bowled in Visakhapatnam on Saturday.

Earlier, Brendon McCullum scored a quickfire 91 to help New Zealand score a creditable 167 for five from their 20 overs.

The Kiwis began disastrously losing two wickets for two runs in the first two overs before McCullum set about rescuing the innings.

Irfan Pathan was the chief destroyer taking 3 for 31 from his four overs.

All eyes though were on Yuvraj Singh, who was returning to international cricket after being treated for a rare germ-cell tumour between his lungs earlier this year. And he didn't disappoint, getting into action straight away. He bowled and fielded with enthusiam and even took a catch to dismiss the dangerous James Franklin.

Brendon McCullum in full flow against India. Pic/AFP

Earlier, India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and elected to field against New Zealand in the second and final Twenty20 cricket international at M A Chidambaram stadium, here today.

India have left out an 'unfit' Virender Sehwag while spinner Harbhajan Singh, paceman Ashok Dinda and leg-spinner spinner Piyush Chawla will also miss out on the game.

New Zealand welcome back former skipper Daniel Vettori, who missed his team's 2-0 defeat in the preceding Test series due to injury.

The first game of the two-match T20 series, a tune-up for next week's World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka, was washed out without a ball being bowled in Visakhapatnam on Saturday.

Brief scores:

New Zealand 167-5 in 20 overs; India 166-4 in 20 overs.

Teams:

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Manoj Tiwary, Irfan Pathan, Ravichandran Ashwin, Zaheer Khan, Lakshmipathy Balaji.

New Zealand: Ross Taylor (capt), Martin Guptill, Rob Nicol, Brendon McCullum, Kane Williamson, James Franklin, Jacob Oram, Daniel Vettori, Kyle Mills, Ronnie Hira, Adam Milne.