India's pace attack subjected New Zealand to a sharp short-ball barrage on the bouncy Eden Park strip. (CREIMAS)

It’s 2026 but felt a throwback to the previous century. The deliveries from India’s seamers often kicked up from short or short of length, and the batsmen pushed and stabbed, and when they sweated about the modest run-rate and tried to accelerate, they couldn’t, falling to ill-advised pulls. The ball hit the bat more often than the other way around, a perfect start to the ODI series, a rarity in these times.

FOLLOW: IND vs NZ 1st ODI LIVE

New Zealand lost their fourth wicket in the 17th over, three of the first four to the pull. Will Young top-edged Arshdeep Singh to Shreyas Iyer in the fifth over. Henry Nicholls pulled him straight to Naman Dhir at mid-wicket in the ninth. Tim Seifert, on 38, hopped across to a Gurnoor Brar bumper and found substitute Ruturaj Gaikwad at mid-on.

The pitch gave bounce more than sideways movement, and India used it without leaning on it.…