Brendon McCullum carried New Zealand to 167 for five with a blistering 91 before becoming one of Irfan Pathan's three victims.
Virat Kohli was almost as effective in battering 70 in the India reply but they ultimately came up just short on 166 for four, despite Yuvraj hitting 34 from 26 balls.
Rain forced the cancellation of Saturday's scheduled first game, forcing Yuvraj to wait an extra three days for his first appearance since last November having battled mediastinal seminoma, a rare germ-cell cancer.
