Playing spoilsport, the rains reduced the decisive match of the series and first ever International match at Greenfield Stadium to an eight-over-per-side affair.
Brendon McCullum and Martin Guptill put on a 123-run partnership to help New Zealand end the fourth day of the first Test on 199 for three, on Saturday, but two late wickets will give the West Indies hope of securing a victory.
Having already won the series, Rohit and Dravid will now like to maintain a fine balance between winning and also trying out all their available resources to see how each and every individual is placed.
De Grandhomme fell before the end but Williamson reached his century with a six in the final over and guided New Zealand to their fourth win of the tournament with three balls to spare.
IMAGES from the second One-Day International between India and New Zealand in New Delhi, on Thursday.
Martin Guptill and Ross Taylor got some valuable time at the wicket as New Zealand did what they needed to looking ahead to the World Cup quarter-finals with a six-wicket victory over Afghanistan at McLean Park on Sunday.
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson won the toss and opted to bat first against Australia in their World Twenty20 Super 10 match at Dharamsala on Friday. The Kiwis are on a high after beating hosts India in their Group Two opener and a second win against their trans-Tasman rivals will put them on course for a place in the semi-finals. After their brave gamble to pick three specialist spinners paid off against India, New Zealand decided to bolster the pace attack, dropping off-spinner Nathan McCullum to accommodate Mitchell McClenaghan. "It's nice to get a win early and hopefully we can make an adjustment again on a new wicket," captain Kane Williamson said. Australia captain Steven Smith said he too would have liked to bat first on a dry wicket at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium.
Openers Martin Guptill and Colin Munro hit unbeaten half-centuries as New Zealand thrashed Sri Lanka by 10 wickets in their World Cup opener in Cardiff on Saturday.
Young batsman Krunal Pandya produced a blinder of an innings scoring 86 runs off only 37 balls as Mumbai Indians defended their massive 206-4 against Delhi Daredevils to record a convincing 80-run victory at Visakhapatnam on Sunday. This win by a huge margin has also boosted the net run-rate of Mumbai at a crucial time as they move above Gujarat Lions to third place in the points table. Pandya's knock was laced with half a dozen towering sixes and seven boundaries as he shared a 98-run fiery stand with opener Martin Guptill to power Mumbai to a commanding 206 for four.
Sunrisers Hyderabad head coach Tom Moody is confident that his team will be able to successfully execute their plans and stop Mumbai Indians's impact player Hardik Pandya when the teams lock horns in Thursday's Indian Premier League encounter.
Images from Day 2 of the first Test between India and New Zealand in Kanpur, on Friday.
Rohit Sharma on Tuesday surpassed captain Virat Kohli to become India's highest run-scorer in T20 Internationals during the second game against the West Indies at the newly-built Ekana Stadium in Lucknow.
Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji list the Most Valuable Players of the India-New Zealand ODI series.
Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor hit an unbeaten century for the second successive match yet ended up on the losing side as New Zealand won the second one-day international by four wickets at the Harare Sports Club on Saturday.
Injuries to frontline fast bowlers have forced New Zealand to opt for fresh blood in their pace attack for the three-match ODI series against India starting February 5 in Hamilton. Kyle Jamieson could be in for a potential debut, while Scott Kuggeleijn and Hamish Bennett return to the squad after a long absence. Injury has meant the likes of Trent Boult, Lockie Ferguson and Matt Henry are unavailable for the series.
Some of their bowling and fielding frailties exposed in the series-opener, India will aim for quick course correction when they take on a resurgent New Zealand in a must-win second ODI, in Auckland, on Saturday. India find themselves in a familiar situation after the loss in Hamilton. But the visitors have come from behind against the West Indies and Australia to win their last two ODI series and Virat Kohli's men will aim to do the same against the Kiwis.
Images from the second match of the tri-series between New Zealand and Sri Lanka in Dambulla.
Besides the 90,000 plus fans lending their noisy support, most of the 22 players involved in the final of the World Cup 2015 will have support in the shape of their families and spouses.
Pakistan will not only have to win the remaining three matches, starting with New Zealand, but also hope that the results in other matches favour them to salvage any hopes of a semi-final berth.
An unwell Trent Boult skipped the New Zealand cricket team's training session at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui on Monday, staying away from the squad as a precautionary measure. The left-arm pacer is among eight players including Ross Taylor, Colin de Grandhomme, Jeet Raval, Mitchell Santner, Tim Seifert, Tim Southee and Neil Wagner, who are attending the first half of the camp that started on Sunday.
Trent Boult produced an economical spell of bowling to take three wickets and help New Zealand to a tense three-run win over Sri Lanka in their first Twenty20 international on Thursday.
The India caption is not ready to give up!
Ahead of the India-New Zealand series, Rajneesh Gupta looks at the Black Caps' Test records.
Images from Thursday's IPL match between Mumbai Indians and Sunrisers Hyderabad, in Mumbai.
Kane Williamson became the second New Zealand batsman to score 1000 Test runs in a calendar year as the hosts built an imposing 308-run lead over Sri Lanka at the close of the third day's play of the first Test in Dunedin.
English all-rounder Ben Stokes was given a royal honour at the Buckingham Palace after he guided his side to the ICC World Cup triumph last year. Along with Stokes, Jos Buttler, Eoin Morgan, coach Trevor Bayliss, and Joe Root also received the honours as part of the New Year's Honours List.
New Zealand ended an 11-match losing streak in emphatic fashion on Saturday, crushing Pakistan by nine wickets in their first One-Day International at Westpac Stadium.
England face unbeaten New Zealand in the first semi-final of 2016 World T20 at New Delhi's Ferozshah Kotla Stadium on March 30. While England have been champions in 2010, New Zealand will be eyeing their first World T20 title. Following is a factbox of the two teams:
Delhi Capitals have never reached the IPL final, never made the top-two, and ventured into the top-four for the first time since 2012.
Grant Elliot's all-round performance eclipsed Shahid Afridi's 29-ball blitz to secure New Zealand a comfortable seven-wicket victory over Pakistan in the first One Day International in Wellington on Saturday.
Rohit Sharma is the leading six hitter in T20 Internationals, with 115 sixes from 100 matches.
One of the biggest turning points of the July 14 final was the overthrow on the fourth ball of the final over bowled by Trent Boult.
Images from the T20 World Cup semi-final between England and New Zealand, in Abu Dhabi, on Wednesday.
Jonny Bairstow bludgeoned a brilliant 83 not out in Durham to lead England to a three-wicket win over New Zealand on the Duckworth-Lewis method on Saturday, earning a 3-2 victory in the five-match series of one-dayers.
England found cricketing bliss by dint of divine intervention and Ben Stokes's brilliance, cracking a code that proved indecipherable for 44 years as history sliced through teary-eyed New Zealand's grasp in a final that will be remembered for ages.
Rain pushed the first semi-final of the ICC World Cup to the reserve day after dominant Indian bowlers excelled yet again to restrict New Zealand to a below-par 211 for five, at Old Trafford in Manchester, on Tuesday.
A brilliant showing in the Super Over, in which he conceded just 8 runs, helped Mumbai Indians clinch a thrilling victory to qualify for the play-offs.
Rahul Chahar would have added another dimension to India's attack.
Youngsters including Shreyas Iyer, Karun Nair, keeper-batsman Rishabh Pant, teen sensation Prithvi Shaw will be keen to make a mark and impress the national selectors during Tuesday's One-Day warm-up against New Zealand in Mumbai.
Colin Munro became the third New Zealand player to score a Twenty20 international century as his side secured a 47-run victory and wrapped up their three-match series against Bangladesh with a game to spare on Friday.
