Brar chirped Mitchell out. Jamieson dared you to enjoy it. Bowlers finally won one

Kyle Jamieson got asked about low-scoring cricket after India's four-run DLS win in Wellington. He turned the question around on the reporters.

He had a point. Two weeks ago this tour was a T20I run-fest. New Zealand reset their record for the highest total at home, and India chased 198 in 13.2 overs. Then a fresh drop-in pitch soaked up a day of rain. On Saturday the second ODI produced 247 runs in total, 15 wickets to fast bowlers, and a game that was close until the rain ended it.

New Zealand made 134. India were 113 for 7 after 26 overs when it poured, four runs ahead of the DLS par. India lead the five-match series 2-0.

Gurnoor Brar was the story. He took 4 for 30 in his ten overs, a career best. In the 20th over he bounced out Tom Latham and Glenn Phillips in a double-wicket maiden, and New Zealand were 53 for 5.

The more interesting part came afterwards, when Brar explained how he helped get rid of Daryl Mitchell. Mitchell was the only batter in the match to reach fifty. He was batting the way the pitch demanded, so Brar had a go at him verbally in the 34th over and followed it with some gestures. Mitchell was out the next over, charging Axar Patel and holing out at long-off. Brar didn't hide that this was the plan.

Bowlers don't usually admit this kind of thing, and the record makes it bolder. Brar picked up an ICC warning and a demerit point in July for a dangerous throw during the first ODI against England at Edgbaston. Match referees will be watching him in Hamilton.

Brar has had the other kind of day too. He went for 0 for 97 at Lord's against England and 2 for 96 against West Indies in Guwahati. He said those games were "demotivating." He also said what plenty of bowlers think: one-dayers were "becoming fully batting dominant."

So in Wellington he didn't just bang it in. He bowled full first to bring the batter forward, then used the bouncer once they were expecting the full one. Mitchell called batting on that pitch "like batting on a trampoline." The bounce was steep and uneven, and the grass outfield killed the ball's pace before it reached the gaps.

India's batters adjusted faster. They took Mitchell's own approach, leave the good balls and swing hard at the bad ones, and pushed it further. Of India's 113 runs, 78 came in boundaries. That's why they won. Shubman Gill made a golden duck and it didn't matter.

Jamieson bowled 10 of New Zealand's 26 overs and took 3 for 35. He said that on most pitches he's played on, "going at tens is probably a good day." This week, in Auckland and Wellington, ODI bowlers had pitches that helped them for once.

That's the real story. ODIs have drifted towards 350 being par, and the middle overs have turned into a holding pattern. On Saturday every over was a contest. Both teams picked four quicks, and the quicks averaged under 15 runs per wicket. A Kamboj bouncer concussed Blair Tickner. The best ball of the day, like the best shot of the day, was worth watching.

New Zealand need answers more than they need applause. They have been bowled out for 185 and 134 in two ODIs, and they keep losing the toss. Jamieson said there was "never any real frustration around totals." There will be if Hamilton goes the same way on Tuesday and the series is gone at 3-0.

For India, the takeaway is bigger than a 2-0 lead. A hit-the-deck enforcer who also knows how to get under a batter's skin is exactly what wins away ODIs, and the 2027 World Cup is in South Africa, a country known for exactly these pitches.