Yuvraj Singh snapped up Jesse Ryder while Yusuf Pathan saw off Ross Taylor to rattle New Zealand after the hosts got off to a flier.
Suresh Raina took a good, tumbling catch to send back Jesse Ryder, who tried to blast Yuvraj Singh out of the park.
Meanwhile Brendon McCullum has brought up his second successive fifty of the series and looks good to rattle the Indian bowling attack further.
Ryder and McCullum rode the early storm from India's new ball bowlers and gave the hosts a great start.