At 180 for 4 after 35 overs, on a surface with negligible assistance for pace and spin, the dangerous Daryll Mitchell well set, India were staring at a steep score to chase at the BCA Stadium in Vadodara. What followed, however, was a reminder of how control, clarity, and subtle adjustments can swing a contest back in your favour.
India’s recovery did not come through raw pace or extravagant movement. It came through intelligence. Mohammed Siraj, often the enforcer with the new or semi-new ball, showed another dimension of his bowling by consciously taking the pace off. On a surface that had begun to grip and slow, Siraj recognised that hitting the deck hard was no longer enough. The ball needed to be held in the pitch, force batters to generate their own power, stagger their reflexes and expose impatience. He manfully carried the burden of being India’s lead act, in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, showed little rust and shepherded the relatively inexperienced seam-colleague. He advised them, guided them, and sometimes chided at them too. Beyond everything, he led by example.
Siraj’s change-up was immediate and effective. He shortened his run-up slightly, bowled with a more upright seam, and relied on subtle variations rather than obvious cutters. He mixed the lengths, combining the full ball with the shorter delivery efficiently. In between he slipped in his staple wobble seam ball. It was not dramatic bowling, but it was deeply uncomfortable for the batters, who suddenly found the boundaries harder to access. He conceded merely four boundaries through the innings, clearly India’s best bowler.
Discipline was his credo. There were no loose deliveries to release pressure, no half-volleys to ease the squeeze. Each one felt like it carried intent. The batsmen were forced into risk, and risk eventually brought rewards for India. Wickets fell not because of magic balls, but because the bowlers dictated terms.
The scoreboard did not scream collapse, but the momentum had unmistakably shifted. The batters had gone quiet, the bowling side sensed an opening, and the game hovered in that delicate middle phase where one strong passage could have tilted the scales in either team’s favour.
Rana’s support act
At the other end, he found valuable support in Harshit Rana, whose discipline and adaptability proved decisive as the innings progressed. Operating from around the wicket for a large portion of his spell, the pacer began by probing for movement but quickly adjusted once the ball stopped swinging. Rana settled into a tight, stump-to-stump line, cutting down scoring opportunities and forcing the batters to take risks. The accuracy not only stemmed the flow of boundaries but also significantly increased the dot-ball pressure during the middle overs. His thrift (26 dots) was a revelation. For just the third time in 11 occasions, he completed his full quota of overs.
As the ball grew softer and older, Rana smartly leaned on his variations rather than raw pace. It brought him a key breakthrough in the 22nd over, ending Henry Nicholls’ busy knock, ending an opening stand of 117 runs. Having consistently clocked speeds in the high 130s and occasionally touching the 140kph mark, Rana surprised the left-hander by rolling his fingers over the ball. The delivery, an off-cutter at just 113kph outside the off-stump, held up on the surface, inducing a mistimed shot that KL Rahul clasped, diving low.
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Harshit Rana of India celebrates the wicket of Henry Nicholls of New Zealand during the 1st ODI match between India and New Zealand at Baroda Cricket Association Stadium, Vadodara, India, on January 11, 2026. (CREIMAS for BCCI)
Taking pace off the ball was his default method in the third spell too. It deceived Mitchell, the most destructive of the visiting batsmen. He struggled to free his arms and grew increasingly frustrated. The slower nature of the pitch, combined with the softened ball, made clean hitting difficult after the 35-over mark . “The wicket was on the slower side.… The new rule, one ball from the 35th over, makes it a bit softer and harder to score,” Mitchell said. Prasidh Krishna eventually nabbed him in front of the wicket.
Prasidh may have been the most expensive of all bowlers (6.66 an over), but he varied his length at the death. The short of length deliveries made it hard for the New Zealand batters to up the ante. Overall, the pacers finished with figures of 6 for 165 and, more importantly, generated a dot-ball percentage of 46.9 – a telling statistic that neutralised the lack of assistance for the spinners.
On a surface where the trio of spinners struggled for wickets (Kuldeep was the lone wicket-taker) and exert pressure (Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar and Kuldeep leaked 35 runs in 23 overs), the seamers staved Gill off the blushes with timely strikes, ensuring that the momentum never swung back decisively. Remarkably, it was not pace or aggression that stood out, but their intelligence.
