NAGPUR: New Zealand's spin-heavy attack will have their work cut out as they set India a 127-run victory target in the first Super 10 match of the World Twenty20 at Nagpur's VCA Stadium on Tuesday.

The tournament proper got underway with Martin Guptill hitting the first delivery over bowler Ravichandran Ashwin's head for a six but New Zealand slumped to 35-3 in the seventh over after opting to bat first in the Group Two contest.

Corey Anderson top scored for New Zealand with 34 but it was Luke Ronchi's (21 not out) 11-ball cameo that took them to a modest 126-7.

New Zealand included three specialist spinners — Nathan McCullum, Ish Sodhi and Mitchell Santner — in their squad on a track that offered significant turn.

Earlier, New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat.

The Kane Williamson-led Kiwis left out Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Henry Nicholls and Mitchell McClenaghan.

Indian skipper MS Dhoni fielded an unchanged side that won the Asia Cup final against Bangladesh, as the red-hot favourites begin their quest to become the first team to win the World T20 title twice.

*Teams from: *

India: MS Dhoni (capt), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ashish Nehra, Jasprit Bumrah

New Zealand: Kane Williamson (capt), Martin Guptill, Colin Munro, Corey Anderson, Grant Elliott, Ross Taylor, Luke Ronchi, Nathan McCullum, Adam Milne, Ish Sodhi, Mitchell Santner

Umpires: Kumar Dharamsena (SRI), Richard Illingworth (ENG)

TV umpire: Marais Eradmus (RSA)

Reserve umpire: Nigel Llong (ENG)

Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (SRI)