8:50pm - And that will do us, guys - the match has been officially called off.
The rain never relented in the capital and we never even got close to being able to have the toss. Just one of those days.
The teams now head north to Tauranga for the second of the three-match series on Sunday.
8:25pm - You guessed it, still bucketing. Any hope of play this evening is dwindling rapidly.
7:55pm - Still teeming at the Cake Tin. Still no coin toss. The latest play can begin tonight is 9:46pm.
7:40pm - No sign of respite from the rain just yet unfortunately.
7:05pm - Evening, cricket fans. First things first - it's raining in Wellington. Heavily.
That means the toss has been delayed. We'll bring you another update as soon as one is to hand.
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Kia ora and welcome to our live updates of the first of three Twenty20 internationals between the Blackcaps and India.
Both teams are just days removed from their respective semi-final exits at the T20 World Cup across the Tasman, each with a point to prove after being knocked out in unceremonious fashion.
The Blackcaps were comfortably dispatched by Pakistan, while England were trounced in historic fashion by eventual champions England, falling to a 10-wicket defeat.
We'll have all of the action from the first ball, which is due at 7:30pm.
TAB betting odds:
New Zealand - $1.71 India - $2.05
Squads:
New Zealand: Kane Williamson (capt), Finn Allen, Michael Bracewell, Devon Conway (wk), Lockie Ferguson, Daryl Mitchell, Adam Milne, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Ish Sodhi, Blair Tickner.
India: Hardik Pandya (C), Rishabh Pant (vc & wk), Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Surya Kumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson (wk), Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umran Malik.
NZ ease expectations on big-hitting opener Finn Allen before white-ball series
By Reece Labuschagne
The Blackcaps are tempering expectations on big-hitting opener Finn Allen, before their home white-ball series against India, with the first T20 on Friday.
Allen's meteoric rise to the top of New Zealand's batting order has seen veteran Martin Guptill left out of their limited overs squads to play the tourists.
The 23-year-old made his international debut against Bangladesh last year and has been a mainstay with his aggressive style and impressive strokeplay earnings plaudits.
With a strike rate of over 129 in white ball cricket, Allen is seen as the next power-hitting Blackcaps opener, reminiscent of those before him, such as Guptill and Brendon McCullum.
But his elevation at the cost of Guptill hasn't seen extra pressure put on him by selectors, with Blackcaps batting coach Luke Ronchi a fan of a less is more approach.
"I don't actually have expectations," he said. "I think the way he plays his cricket - he's going to grow anyway.
"He's only young, he's only been here for such a small amount of time, you can grab the amount of games he's played with one hand. It's understanding that and giving him an opportunity to go out there and be himself.
"It doesn't matter if you're 22 or 35, you put expectations on yourself to perform, and it's usually higher than what they actually need to be.
"For me, it's actually trying to make sure he's just nice and relaxed and goes out there and plays the way he can play.
"He's gonna hit sixes, he's gonna hit fours, his strike rate is going to be through the roof, but it's not trying to overdo it and for him to go out there and be relaxed - that's when you see him play his best sort of cricket.
"I think at times, which everyone does, they just want more and it's realising you don't need more - more comes from being relaxed and doing the smaller things well.
"That's what we do as a unit really well, we do the small things to get those end results and if you look at the end results first, then more often than not, you forget all the small things and your mind goes all over the place.
"For someone like Finn, he's really good at just trying to bring things back and be nice and relaxed and those performances come from him."
While there is no mistaking Allen's intent with the bat, opponents India have been criticised for their conservative approach, having been bundled out by England in the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup.
Ronchi sympathises with the India batters and believes surfaces played an important role in their lagging run rate.
"I think like a lot of teams in the world do at the moment, you play the conditions that are in front of you," he said.
"I think sometimes people think you need to go all guns blazing every single game, but in an ICC event, or a World Cup, there are used surfaces, there are new surfaces, there are different conditions in front of you.
"Not only the Indians, we did it, a lot of teams actually play what is in front of them and sometimes it means you have to be a bit more conservative in the way you approach games."
