Jess Kerr to Shafali Verma, 1 run, to deep mid-wicket

Jess Kerr to Shafali Verma, no run

Jess Kerr to Mandhana, 1 run, 99.6ks on a length and outside off, Smriti drives in front of square and there's a sweeper in place,

Jess Kerr to Mandhana, no run

Jess Kerr to Shafali Verma, 1 run, slanting into the right hander, Shafali leans forward and turns it towards mid-on

Shafali Verma and Mandhana are at the crease. Shafali Verma is on strike. Jess Kerr will open the attack

The national anthems of both teams are played out. The umpires are making their way out to the middle. The White Ferns have a quick huddle before taking the field. Here come Smriti and Shafali.

India have couple of debutants - Tejal Hasabnis and Saima Thakor. But how big a miss will Harmanpreet be? That middle order looks very inexperienced and the onus falls on Smriti, Shafali and Jemimah to carry the batting responsibility.

UPDATE: "Ms Harmanpreet Kaur has a niggle and has been rested for the 1st ODI. Smriti Mandhana will be leading the side in her absence." - post by BCCI Women on X.

Teams:

New Zealand Women (Playing XI): Suzie Bates, Georgia Plimmer, Amelia Kerr, Sophie Devine(c), Brooke Halliday, Maddy Green, Isabella Gaze(w), Lauren Down, Jess Kerr, Molly Penfold, Eden Carson

India Women (Playing XI): Smriti Mandhana(c), Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia(w), Dayalan Hemalatha, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Tejal Hasabnis, Radha Yadav, Arundhati Reddy, Saima Thakor, Renuka Thakur Singh

India Women have won the toss and have opted to bat

12:30 Local Time, 07:00 GMT: This was the encounter which gave New Zealand the belief that they can go a long way in the T20 World Cup and skipper Sophie Devine even mentioned it was one of the complete performances in their victorious campaign. Unfortunately for India it was their first game of the tournament which they lost and it eventually made rest of their games a must-win. The two teams come into this series with a different mindset. New Zealand are the newly crowned T20 champs while India could not make it out of the group stage. The format is different but most of the players remain the same. The focus also shifts to the 50-over World Cup next year and incidentally the previous tournament was the last time these two met in this format. How will New Zealand's focus be coming into this series? Can India make amends for their early World Cup exit? Toss and teams coming up.. Stay tuned

Squads:

India Women Squad: Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Harmanpreet Kaur(c), Jemimah Rodrigues, Dayalan Hemalatha, Deepti Sharma, Yastika Bhatia(w), Shreyanka Patil, Radha Yadav, Renuka Thakur Singh, Arundhati Reddy, Tejal Hasabnis, Sayali Satghare, Saima Thakor, Uma Chetry, Priya Mishra

New Zealand Women Squad: Suzie Bates, Georgia Plimmer, Amelia Kerr, Sophie Devine(c), Brooke Halliday, Maddy Green, Isabella Gaze(w), Lauren Down, Polly Inglis, Fran Jonas, Lea Tahuhu, Hannah Rowe, Jess Kerr, Molly Penfold, Eden Carson