Wellington's Wind, India's Tall Quicks, and a New Zealand Top Order Looking for a Foothold

India lead the five-match ODI series 1-0. At Eden Park, New Zealand were bowled out for 185 in the 41st over, and when rain trimmed the chase to 143 in 32 overs, Virat Kohli made it look like a training drill: 74 off 51, a 35-ball fifty, thirteen fours. India got there with 56 balls to spare.

The numbers that will linger in the New Zealand dressing room, though, belong to the bowlers. Anshul Kamboj bowled ten overs for 22, including a maiden first up. Arshdeep Singh took 4 for 70 with the short ball, expensive but incisive. Gurnoor Brar, one of the tall seamers India are auditioning ahead of next year's World Cup in South Africa, took 3 for 44. Nine of the ten wickets went to seam; the tenth was a run-out.

Jacob Duffy spoke afterwards about late starts and the toss. There is something in that over a whole tour. But Auckland's damage was done in daylight, in the first 40 overs, on a bouncy pitch. That is the problem New Zealand carry to Wellington.

The top four at Eden Park — Will Young, Tim Seifert, Henry Nicholls and Daryl Mitchell — all got starts or got out trying to start, and only Seifert passed 30. Tom Latham made 3. It took Blair Tickner's 34 off 23 from No. 11 to drag the total past 180, which tells you both how much fight there was and how little batting had gone before.

New Zealand may well keep faith with the same batting group; one bad afternoon against a fresh, tall attack does not usually earn a reshuffle. The question is tempo. Glenn Phillips, who made 341 runs across the T20I series, spent 51 balls over 30 in Auckland, and it felt like a player trying to be responsible rather than himself. In Wellington, where the boundaries square of the wicket are generous but the ball can carry on the wind, he may be asked to be both.

With the ball, Duffy (3 for 49 in seven overs) and Kyle Jamieson were the best of the home attack, and the extra bounce Jamieson gets from his height could matter more here than anywhere else in the country. Mitchell Santner did not bowl at Eden Park as the chase was shortened; on a drier Wellington surface he could be more central. A possible XI, if they stick with what they have: Young, Seifert (wk), Nicholls, Mitchell, Latham, Phillips, Santner (c), Smith, Jamieson, Duffy, Tickner.

India's Eden Park selection was as interesting for who sat out as for who played. Kamboj was preferred to Mohammed Siraj and repaid that in full, and Auqib Nabi got six overs (0 for 33) as the fourth seamer. It would be a surprise if the management changed a winning attack after one game, though with a five-match series and a World Cup cycle in view, rotation is always possible.

At the top, Rohit Sharma fell for a six-ball duck, and Shubman Gill ground out 37 off 56 while Kohli went the other way. Rohit's record says one failure is noise. Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul barely got a hit in the shortened chase, and Axar Patel bowled only five overs (0 for 12), so the middle order and the spin option remain lightly tested. A plausible XI, should India stay unchanged: Rohit, Gill (c), Kohli, Iyer, Rahul (wk), Axar, Naman Dhir, Kamboj, Arshdeep, Nabi, Brar.

Wellington's stadium is not a small ground, and the wind is the variable everyone talks about. Bowlers running in with it can find extra pace and carry; those bowling into it have to hold their line and accept that the ball will hang. Captains here often think hard about which end each of their quicks bowls from, and that decision can shape the first ten overs as much as the new ball does.

The 3pm start means the first innings is played in the afternoon and the chase in the evening, when the temperature drops and the ball may skid on. India have won the toss and chosen to bowl repeatedly on this tour. If that pattern holds, New Zealand will again have to set the game up — and this time they will need 260-plus rather than 185 to give their bowlers a fair argument.

India are the form side and, on Auckland's evidence, the more settled one. But one-day series are rarely won in the first match, and New Zealand at home have a habit of making visiting teams play one more good session than they expected to. Their T20I fightback from 0-3 to 2-3 is recent enough to remember.

If New Zealand's top four can get through the first 15 overs with wickets in hand, the game opens up for Phillips and Santner. If India's tall quicks find the same bounce they found in Auckland, it may be 2-0 before the series reaches Hamilton. It might just come down to who reads the wind better.

New Zealand vs India, 2nd ODI, Hnry Stadium, Wellington — Saturday, November 7, 3:00 PM NZDT / 7:30 AM IST. Unlock CricIntel Pro for ODI projections and match predictions.