Four New Zealand players, including Kane Williamson and Tim Southee, were given go-ahead by New Zealand Cricket to join their respective Indian Premier League teams without taking part in the home white-ball series against Sri Lanka.
Suryakumar Yadav and captain Hardik Pandya held their nerves to guide India to a hard-fought six-wicket victory over New Zealand
Three days after stunning defending champions England in New Zealand, the plucky Afghans briefly kindled hopes of another upset when New Zealand's top order suffered a mini-collapse.
Warner described local fans as "derogatory and pretty vulgar" after the Australians were targeted for abuse during a test and ODI tour of New Zealand in 2016.
For Gaikwad, it was a match to remember as he topped up his first innings 108 with a delectable 94, which had 11 boundaries in it.
Opening batter Tim Seifert's blistering 88 helped New Zealand defeat Sri Lanka by four wickets in their thrilling third and final Twenty20 international in Queenstown on Saturday to complete a 2-1 series victory.
Victory left New Zealand on 10 points and in pole position to bag the last semi-final spot and join India, South Africa and Australia. Pakistan will now need to beat England by a massive margin to leapfrog New Zealand on net run rate.
England, the defending champions of the ICC T20 World Cup, have several areas to address if they want to defend their title
Veteran all-rounder Mitchell Santner will captain the New Zealand side for the three-match T20I series against India.
Pakistan beat New Zealand by five wickets in the final of a tri-series in Christchurch on Friday, giving themselves a timely boost ahead of the upcoming Twenty20 World Cup in Australia.
Pakistan cricketers floored by 'unexpected' welcome, hit nets 12 hours after arrival
'That's a standard we want to keep going with for the rest of tournament.'
New Zealand face England-beaters Afghanistan aiming to keep their unbeaten run intact
The match ended after New Zealand scored 133 for 4 in their second innings.
Who do you think should be part of India's playing XI for Friday's second T20I against New Zealand?
Mitchell Santner and Lockie Ferguson picked up three wickets each as New Zealand trounced Afghanistan by 149 runs.
New Zealand will firmly bank on their potent batting line-up to ward off Bangladesh's capable spin attack on a slow Chepauk pitch on Friday.
England are an ageing side alright, but few will dare to bet against Jos Buttler's men successfully defending their World Cup title in a few weeks time.
Australia clawed back to 2-1 in the five-match series following defeats in Christchurch and Dunedin.
New Zealand's campaign has hit a disheartening flatline after their early domination and the Kiwis will have to rediscover their bowling mojo for a World Cup reboot when they face knocked-out Sri Lanka in Bengaluru on Thursday.
PHOTOS from the ICC World Cup opener played between England and New Zealand at Ahmedabad on Thursday
Mukesh got wickets with the new (4.3 overs), semi-new (35.3 overs) and old ball (57.4 overs)
Rajneesh Gupta lists the New Zealand players's T20 Internationals records updated after the game against England in the T20 World Cup.
Images from the third T20 International between India and New Zealand, at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, on Sunday.
Babar Azam scored his 18th century as Pakistan trounced New Zealand by 102 runs in the fourth One-Day International at the National stadium in Karachi on Friday. His 107 off 117 balls fired Pakistan to 334 for 6. In reply, New Zealand were shot out for 232 all out, their lowest total of the series.
Images from the first T20 International between India and New Zealand, in Ranchi, on Friday.
The most interesting aspect of the contest is the form of batters from both sides which has been the reason of their success so far.
Rahul Dravid's reign as head coach and Rohit Sharma's as T20I captain got off to a winning start as India defeated New Zealand by five wickets in a thrilling finish in Jaipur on Wednesday.
Sans Hardik, it's starting all over again for dominant India
India were caught in a spin web on the Ranchi pitch as they lost the series opener by 21 runs on Friday.
Images from the third T20 International between New Zealand and India, at McLean Park in Napier, on Tuesday.
India will be expecting more runs from the middle order and discipline in the death overs as they look for a series sealing win against New Zealand in the second ODI in Raipur on Saturday.
Images from the second T20 International between India and New Zealand, in Ranchi, on Friday.
Trent Boult grabbed two wickets on successive balls to help New Zealand to a 12-run win over England in their Twenty20 tri-series match at Wellington Regional Stadium on Tuesday.
India were expected to try out a bunch of players after another World Cup debacle but if the team combination for the second T20 was any indication, they seemed reluctant to start with a clean slate.
India are set for a T20 appetizer ahead of their marquee Test series against Australia when they face the touring New Zealand in a three-match series, beginning in Ranchi, on Friday.
New Zealand, on the other hand, will be eager to grab a consolation win to boost their morale.
Ishan Kishan had to sit out of the Sri Lanka series despite scoring the fastest double hundred in the history of ODIs against Bangladesh.
Martin Guptill will play in his seventh T20 World Cup and Devon Conway will keep wickets in addition to his batting duties at the tournament
Netherlands' Teja Nidamanuru, Aryan Dutt and Vikram Singh might have a few drops of tears in their eyes when they step onto the field for their opening World Cup match against Pakistan on Friday.
