Live Report - India vs New Zealand

He's watching the ball tracing a giant arc in the night sky.

And when it lands over the rope, past Mark Chapman who has slipped on the Dharamsala outfield, which is definitely not a great advert for it, he breaks into gleeful laughter.

He punches the bat. It's not his six. It's Ravindra Jadeja's. But he's the once celebrating.

Virat Kohli sometimes enters these stages where the game becomes a drug to him.

Everything else fades and only it exists.

It often happens when he knows he is the only one keeping India up. There's Mohali 2016. Still one of his best innings, not just in T20s, but across formats. There's Perth 2018. Probably his best Test knock on a seriously fast pitch against seriously fast bowling which was taking out his team-mates left right and centre. There's Birmingham 2018, where he finally laid the Anderson head-to-head to rest. And of course Melbourne 2022. That six against Haris Rauf.

In each of those games, his batting hits a peak when his team needs it the most. Here too, after he had a hand in the run-out of Suryakumar Yadav, giving NZ two wickets in 11 balls, he's barely made a mis-step.

Its the way he picks up length when in this state that's almost other-worldly. Quick to rock back. Dangerous when lunging forward. Its like his mind sharpens when he realises the contest is back on. Because until that run-out India were cruising. Then suddenly, they were wobbling and so he flicked on boss mode.

With five runs to win, and on 95, he goes for a six to get the record - 49 ODI centuries, alongside the great Sachin Tendulkar - but he doesn't get enough on the ball and is caught at deep midwicket. Glenn Phillips takes it and turns around to the crowd to shrug almost in apology.

India have five wins in five now. And they've managed to get Ravindra Jadeja some batting time. Everything is going to plan for 2023 to be 2011 again.

Dharamsala is quiet.

But a section of that crowd is going "Kohli! Kohli!"

That chant is ringing a bit hollow because they know this game is on the line.

But when he hooks a Ferguson bouncer in between deep square leg and deep midwicket, the crowd erupts.

India need 57 off 72 balls now. Kohli, from being 28 off 47, is now 68 off 71. Is ODI hundred no. 49 on?

With a left-hander in the middle, he's called up Glenn Phillips' offspin. He's struck a few times in this tournament when NZ needed it; took out Joe Root in the opening game and then began his spell in another with a wicket first ball

Bowling to Kohli in an ODI chase though is a whole other thing and a ball that is just slightly short is dealt with. Such quick footwork to go back and across and whack it away for four.

Williamson was out there at the drinks break. NZ were in an emergency strategy meeting. Santner restarted proceedings with the wicket of KL Rahul. Then Suryakumar gifted his wicket away to a run-out.

NZ are right back in this. Surya didn't really think that Santner - it's Santner, this time in the field, making the difference again - would stop the drive to the left of cover. But he did.

Kohli didn't commit to the single. Maybe if he had, things would have been different? We don't know. What we do know is that he wanted to wait till the ball is past the fielder. Surya didn't. He just ran. He was at the bowler's end, along with Kohli, and that created the chance.

Santner threw blind. Underarmed the ball gently somewhere to the middle of the pitch, which is where Boult is, and he too underarms the ball to the keeper and Latham finishes off a slick NZ move

Two wickets in 11 balls between the 33rd and the 34th overs.

Virat Kohli and an ODI run-chase... what more do we have to say?

He was 28 off 47. Now he's 50 off 60. 22 runs in 13 balls and he has a milestone. He has this game in his hands, really.

If he bats through, India win. If he falls, then NZ will feel like they finally have a foothold.

Kohli, with 313 runs now, is the highest run-scorer at the 2023 World Cup. He goes past Rohit Sharma's 311.

NZ had Williamson's out there again at the drinks break, in Latham's ear. Santner was there too. ALong with Chapman and Ravindra. They aren't giving this up but it is slipping away from them.

Santner comes on as soon as play resumes and he takes out Rahul. Lbw. The on-field decision was not-out because the batter was down the pitch, but Santner knew it was straight. He knew it wasn't bouncing over the stumps. Latham asked him one question - was it straight. It was.

12 wickets in the tournament for NZ's left-arm spinner. He's top of the tree and he's going further away.

Suryakumar Yadav comes out to play his first game of the men's ODI World Cup and is greeted by a slip.

Eighty-four of those 125 balls have ended up as dots. Five of them have ended up as wickets. The combination of his pace and accuracy have meant that he has performed the role of enforcer brilliantly.

He's just been replaced by Matt Henry though. Might be another Latham gut call. He's really good at this captaincy thing. He knows NZ need to bowl India out. He knows for that this partnership needs to be broken. So he's gone to his best fast bowler of the tournament.

India's batting falls away after Jadeja and Suryakumar because they don't have Pandya today. NZ need to make their move right now when they still have 122 runs to play with.

He's also striking pretty well too: 90 runs per 100 balls. Such a crucial component to India's batting line-up.

Boult went searching for swing in his first spell, when he didn't find it, he got lined up and hit for drives.

In his second spell, he's pulled his length back, and the wicket comes off a short ball that climbs up to Iyer's badge. It's hard to control the hook shot when the ball is up that high and that's what happens. Goes in the air, with not a lot of power, to deep square leg where Conway takes a good catch. This is testament to Boult's quality. He recovers so well. He changes the tide.

ESPNcricinfo's forecaster deems that to be a big wicket. It brought India's chances of winning down by 12%, from 67 to 55

Overs 1-10: 63 for 0
Overs 11-20: 58 for 2

Mitchell Santner is doing his best, out-bowling both of India's spinners earlier in the day, and this is when the dew has set in.

He's bowling slower through the air. He's getting drop on the two right-handers. He had Kohli playing and missing twice in the same over. The control he has puts him on level pegging with any mystery spinner.

And from there, he has a batter's brain. He knows where to bowl to get dot balls. He knows the lengths and the lines to avoid getting hit for boundaries. And once sufficient pressure is built, he is never afraid of dangling the bait

After about 10 minutes' delay.

That was surreal

There's another for the scrapbook!

All of a sudden the ground in Dharamsala gets engulfed by a fog and we've had to wait a couple of minutes so that visibility improves

Just on Iyer again, the reason India trust him is because he is amazing at dealing with spin. So nimble with his footwork, so efficient with his hands. The first ball he faces from Santner tonight, and Santner's been really good, even though he's fighting the dew, Iyer is able to deflect him to the fine leg boundary. It was just a slight straying in line and the shot had barely any malice in it. Just genius.

Four sweet runs. Iyer's moved onto 21 off 9. The advantage of two quick wickets is already dissipating

Now that the players have gone off, they cannot come back till the fog's cleared. Duckworth-Lewis rules apply.

Ferguson has two wickets in two overs and neither were particularly threatening deliveries.

Rohit dragged a wide one onto his stumps and Gill now has upper cut a bouncer to third man.

If ever pace is pace applies, its here.

That brings Shreyas Iyer to the middle and he has a reputation of not being great against the short ball. He has worked on it. He has got better with it. But bowlers have identified him as someone to target

It was a really tough chance - similar to KL Rahul's drop off Daryl Mitchell in the first innings.

Mitchell Santner gets a little turn off the straight and Rohit's front foot defence, instead of smothering the ball, edges it behind.

But the deflection is huge. These either stick or they don't and to Letham's credit, he at least got a glove on it.

India bossing the chase. 71 for 0 in 11 overs.

Oh wait, they're 71 for 1! Lockie Ferguson someone has Rohit dragging onto his stumps with his first ball of the night!

False responses produced by the fast bowlers today.

Shami: 17 in 10 overs, five wickets
Bumrah: 16 in 10 overs, one wicket
Henry: 12 in five overs, zero wickets

Even in that over, where Rohit hit Henry for a scoop for four and a down the track whack for six, there was a play and miss.

Trent Boult's been poor though. Going at over 7 an over. He couldn't find swing today so he experimented a bit. Lost his line a bit. Went too wide a bit. And leaked four fours and a six in his first four overs

If Rohit is good in the air, Gill is boss along the ground.

He struck a boundary in the eighth over against Henry, who is in really good rhythm, that just left jaws on the ground.

It was a very decent ball. Fourth stump line. On a fullish length. At best, it merited a straight bat push to mid-off.

Gill, though, got into position early, his front foot moving just half foward and slightly across so that it puts his body weight over the ball, but doesn't leave him having to play around it. And that is crucial here. Its why he was able to hit that ball for four to the right of mid-on instead of being lbw.

All he needed was enough weight going into the shot, but not so much that he ends up falling over. Once he struck that balance, his hands and his wrists take over. Sublime talent!

Beautiful cricket.

Matt Henry is steaming in. He's got the wobble seam on a string.

Shubman Gill tries to lay bat on it, but for three straight balls, whether he's defending from the crease, or taking a leaf from Rohit's book and charging out, he hasn't been able to.

Then right towards the end of the over, Henry looks to deck the ball back into the right-hander, and though he does manage to get that nip in, Gill is able to cover it and find a boundary through square leg.

These are top class players doing top class things and all we have to do is sit back and be spoiled

Rohit was watchful. There was a ball from Boult in the first over which was very wide outside off stump but he didn't go after it. He checked his drive to cover.

All through this World Cup, Rohit has been a marauder in the first 10 overs. He hasn't held anything back. But here, he wasn't looking for anything extravagant. He knew the value of taking just a liiiittle bit of time against an in-form bowling attack.

But even that caution lasted just eight balls. The eighth ball was one where he was beaten defending outside off stump and that probably just reminded him that 'yeah, stuff this. I'm in form. I'm just as good as these guys are and I'm going to show it.'

Rohit's intent has been a big part of India's success at this tournament and here he sounded it with a monster six off Matt Henry in the second over, charging out of his crease. It's only the second six that Henrys' given away all tournament.

NZ aren't getting any swing. The movement they are managing is off wobble-seam deliveries. And under lights - maybe with the help of some dew even - the ball is coming on better than the first innings. That's advantage India.

He is the better bowler, but Shardul takes his place in a full-strength India team because they want batting cover.

But as soon as Hardik was injured, they knew they needed his bowling to compensate for the loss of Hardik's overs.

It's tough to cope with that. You're dropped but its not really your fault. So all you can do is when you get your chance, you make your case and Shami can't have done much more than he has here.

Shami helped India take 6 for 54 in the last 10 overs. The two-paced nature of the pitch really came in handy towards the end. Now will it stay so or will dew come in and make it easier for batting?

NZ finish on 273 - 130 of them came off Daryl Mitchell's bat, who was outstanding through the middle overs. He took Kuldeep down - 43 runs off 28 balls, nobody has managed that many in ODIs. Kuldeep did strike back though, his dismissal of Glenn Phillips opened the tail up for India and Shami burst through. Outstanding cricket all around.

India have done very well going into the wicket and using the natural variation it provides in terms of pace and bounce.

And Shami in the 48th over gets Santner and Henry bowled off successive balls. The Santner wicket seemed like reverse swing!

After that 159 run partnership they gave away, they've dragged this game riiiiiight back! Their change-ups have worked. They've tried a lot of yorkers and almost every single one of them have landed. It's maybe the biggest reason why Mitchell's not been able to get on a roll. He's having to dig yorkers up for singles. Or adjust his bat-swing to deal with slower balls sticking in the pitch. Brilliant stuff.

Even on a bad day, Kuldeep gets two wickets. And it's a well worked wicket too. He knows Phillips will be targeting him. So he keeps the ball wide outside off stump, away from his reach. It's the googly too, so when the right-hander looks to drag it leg side, he ends up with a mis-hit that is caught at cover point by Rohit. Three men raced after that skier, including the wicketkeeper. Eventually it was India's captain who took charge of that situation.

That strike, especially at this time, in the 45th over, will pull the total down by 15-20 runs.

Mitchell's also gone quiet at the other end. He hasn't hit a boundary since the 37th over. From 94 off 91 - he slowed down in sight of a century - he is 110 off 112. That's only 16 runs in his last 21 balls

Ravindra and Mitchell's partnership produced 159 runs at better than a run a ball.

Since that was broken in the 34th over, NZ have scored only 48 runs in 52 balls and lost two wickets.

That's how its gone for India between the 34th and the 44th overs. There were forty balls without a boundary in there until the six from Phillips off Siraj.

He's had a really fun time in India. Made 89 unbeaten against Bangladesh and then went back to the hotel to enjoy the All Blacks beat Ireland in the Rugby World Cup despite being a man down for 20 minutes in a thrilling quarter-final. They're in the final, due to be played on Saturday, against the Springboks. Mitchell's Dad, John, works in rugby. They've been having conversations through the tournament. Might be a phone call due tonight.

This is the most anybody has scored off Kuldeep in an ODI match. Mitchell takes over from Bairstow's exploits in the 2019 World Cup - and that was the game that convinced India they can't play two wristspinners (at the cost of their batting depth)

Kuldeep was so frazzled today he was making unforced errors.

With India only having five bowlers today, he can't even go off and have a think.

In the 37th over, as soon as Mitchell comes on strike, he looks to do something different. Goes seam up. The ball is down leg. Having previously been struck by a seam up delivery, this time Mitchell is waiting for it and he paddles it around the corner for a boundary

The straight sixes early on with the reach he has making it unnecessary to even get to the pitch of the ball. The routine trips down the pitch. The sweeps and reverse sweeps. It's hard to recall another batter toying with Kuldeep like this

Kuldeep was getting his game back on track.

He bested Ravindra twice, the batter's attempts to go deep in his crease to flat bat some runs, and to come down the track and smash some, going in vain.

Those were two good wins for the bowler.

Then Mitchell (69 off 75) comes on strike and Kuldeep gets one over him too. A 114 kph change up as soon as he saw the right-hander going to reverse sweep hits him on the arm and Rohit is in splits laughing.

The very next ball is an artful little googly. The line is wide. The spin takes it wider. Mitchell is a power hitter but when its that wide, he'll have to reach away from his body and that diminishes his power. Bumrah is at long-off. He runs to his right, he gets two hands to it, but it slips right through and goes for four.

The focus on Bumrah stays as he chases a leg bye off Ravindra to the third man boundary and doesn't put in a dive. He doesn't put in a dive because he is wary of the outfield. He cannot get injured. He is India's No. 1 asset. He cannot get injured for the sake of saving two runs.

India eventually get the breakthrough they've been searching for 152 balls. Ravindra launches a length ball from Shami down to long-on and walks off for a well made 75. Thats left him only four runs short of being the highest scorer at this World Cup. It's his first World Cup!

The partnership ends at 159, coming at better than a run a ball.

It's strange that Rohit hasn't brought Bumrah back in the middle overs.

You'd think he's India's best chance of a wicket, and once one falls, they can build pressure again.

Kuldeep will become effective again because he'd be bowling to a guy who isn't used to the conditions here.

One way traffic - Mitchell vs Kuldeep in this game. NZ are 167 for 2 after 32 overs.

India thought they'd broken the partnership when a cross-seam yorker from Siraj rapped Ravindra on the pads.

The on-field decision from umpire Adrian Holdstock gave it out but DRS - the two batters only went there because they knew how hard it would be for a new guy to come and deal with this two-paced pitch - and the replay eventually showed that the ball from over the wicket pitched outside the left-handers leg stump. No lbw.

A few balls later, in Ravindra Jadeja's last over, Daryl Mitchell tries to go inside out and find a boundary over cover, but he made too much room and offered a fine edge to the wicketkeeper. But Rahul got up a little too early and he wasn't able to get his gloves on it.

A little luck going NZ's way. They've also earned a bit of that by absorbing the pressure from the early overs and transferring it back.

Even Jadeja, who is a banker, wasn't able to get through this partnership unscathed. Mitchell was coming down the track to him, he was sweeping and reverse sweeping him too, he wasn't letting him settle easily

It is clear that this is not a 300-350 pitch.

India have sensed that they cannot let this partnership give NZ the foundation to aim for a score in that region and they've brought Siraj back and the bowler, to his credit, is making the most of the vagaries of the pitch

It's slow. It's two-paced. And every time he goes for his tricks - the cross-seamers, the bouncers and the slower balls - it's putting the batter off.

Daryl Mitchell, who is excellent against the short ball, was nearly beaten for pace.

Rachin Ravindra, looking to turn one just short of a good length, into midwicket connected only with his leading edge.

Lockie Ferguson hits these same short lengths in the middle overs. He'll be taking notes.

India are expecting dew later in the evening and if that does arrive, the ball will start to skid off the pitch and come on nicely.

NZ will have to factor that in as well as they set this total

He's only 23 years old. His judgment of length is excellent, especially against spin and it caters to his strength which is his back foot game against slow bowling. His family living in Bangalore will be coming to see him when NZ shift bases there for the next leg of this World Cup. They'll be very proud

He's batting out there while NZ's greatest No. 4 batter is in the commentary box.

Ross Taylor has been a huge part of this team's success in ICC tournaments. When a player like that retires, it usually takes a bit of time to replace him.

But Mitchell has ripped that up. He has been so consistent, across formats, and its because of a very simple method. He trusts his power and he focuses that power on hitting straight. Three of his four boundaries today have come in that direction.

This is the thing with New Zealand. They don't crumble under a crisis. They take the blows - just like they did against Bumrah and Siraj - then they get themselves back up, back on steady ground, and then they punch back.

Mitchell's also doing one other clever thing. He's targeting Kuldeep on a pitch that isn't turning a whole lot. He's backing his reach to get to the pitch of the ball and his power to dominate the spinner. If he can mess with one of India's bowlers - they're only playing five today - that'd be huge tick because Rohit will have no one else to turn to.

KULDEEP'S FIRST THREE OVERS

Kane Williamson had carried the drinks out to these two batters a little while ago. He's the captain of this side and he's only in a bib because he's injured.

I'm going to take a bit of a logic leap here. Bear with me. NZ could've picked anybody else to run that bottle of fluid out. But they sent the guy who is a specialist at walking in at the fall of early wickets and navigating tough batting conditions. He does it across formats. He does it with almost machine-like efficiency. So maybe he was out there to figure out how to chart the rest of the innings.

NZ pride on making the most of the information available to them and their captain is one of the richest sources of it

Nagraj Gollapudi: Dew, a natural phenomenon, has been a determining factor for teams at toss in India. It is mainly because of the significant difference in temperatures in India between day and late evenings. However, to reduce the impact of dew, the BCCI groundsmen have been using a chemical APSHA 80 on the outfield in white-ball matches including IPL. This chemical is a water resistant and is sprayed once on the day before the match and then at least three hours prior to toss. The chemical is not sprayed during the match as that will make the surface slippery.

The chemical ensures that once the dew comes, it doesn’t spread. However, groundsmen point out that dew is only minimised but not eradicated altogether. Another way to curtail dew is done by reducing watering the outfield at least a day or two before the match. The grass on the outfield, also needs to be trimmed fine.

All this ensures that dew is not the dominant factor, eventhough it has come as early as 6 pm IST at some of the venues this World Cup.

On 12 off 21, Rachin Ravindra is dropped by Ravindra Jadeja and it was a dolly too. Straight to him at point, at no great pace either.

This was just three balls after Ravindra had also used DRS to save himself from a caught behind decision given against him.

A little while earlier, Rohit Sharma left the field, seemingly concerned for his little finger on his left hand. He was trying to slide on the outfield and slipped. Spent a long time staring at it before he walked off to get some treatment.

Its safe to say its all been happening early on in this game.

And I totally forgot that India burned a review looking for Ravindra's wicket when Bumrah, the bowler who created that lbw chance, said clearly it was going down leg side. He was overruled and the replays showed he should've been trusted

Bumrah's economy rate after four overs: 2.75
Siraj's economy rate after four overs: 1.75

Daryl Mitchell's arrival at No. 4 changes the script a bit. He likes going at bowlers. His first act as a batter in the game against Bangladesh was to hit Shakib Al Hasan for a six. That little bit of proactivity messed with Siraj's rhythm and in the end his fifth over ended up looking like this.

Will Young is itching to go.

But India haven't offered the release shot.

Even Siraj, who often goes searching for a wicket, bowling too full, has been impeccable with his length.

On a slow pitch - which effectively means batters can't really hit through the line or trust their timing for boundaries - with just a hint of movement still on offer with the new ball, both Bumrah and Siraj are tightening the noose.

They're not going for the magic ball. They're just stacking good balls up one by one and piling on the pressure. And it's worked.

Mohammed Shami, playing his first match of the World Cup, comes in and picks up a wicket with his first ball on the back of all the good work his partners did earlier. Young is bowled. NZ 19 for 2.

So this has been happening behind the scenes

And when Ravindra Jadeja took a smart catch against Bangladesh, he immediately signalled he deserved the medal.

Now when Iyer took this catch to remove Conway, he did the same, gesturing for the medal.

He's 0 off 8.

He gets one on the pads.

It's pure relief. And maybe that dulls him just a tiny bit.

He knows its a boundary ball. He goes for a shot he plays really well. The flick. He nails it.

But he hasn't placed it. It's too close to Shreyas Iyer at square leg and the catch is taken.

The celebrations are wild. Is it just because they've got an early wicket? Or was that a plan coming together?

Because Iyer was in close, and just in front of square as well. He wasn't orthodox square leg. This is a slow pitch so maybe that's why the position was different. On slow pitches, the ball goes in front of square, as opposed to behind square.

Anyway, dot ball pressure matters. And this is proof. One of NZ's big guns is gone early and gone for a duck.

The players still aren't completely comfortable with the relaid outfield in Dharamsala. This is the fourth match of the World Cup at this venue and right from the start there's been a focus on its fitness.

Just now, in the third over, with Will Young retracting his bat after offering it to Jasprit Bumrah, and the ball just deflecting off it, went to the boundary because Siraj at third man didn't really seem confident about whether he can dive or not. He went for one in the end, but by that time, it was a bit too late. Obviously he doesn't want to give runs away, but also he doesn't want to get injured.

"Be careful with the oufield," Ravi Shastri even said on the broadcast.

This, in the Indian Express today from Arun Dhumal, HPCA patron and IPL chairman, on Dharamsala outfield controversy: "I felt it was unnecessary controversy. Those who all played the game were fine with it. They said something before the game but when the same team scored 350 runs, they were fine with the outfield. There are two types of grass here, one is for cold and one is for summer. It has a different shade, one is rai and the other is paspalum grass. People thought it was different, there could be misunderstandings by seeing it. There was a shade issue in the outfield but everything is alright now."

Bumrah is pristine to start off.

The fact that he settles on a good length - the kind that forces a batter forward, but never gives him a drive - means he's always in with a chance of early wickets.

Then there's the swing he's getting. He had Devon Conway flirting with a couple moving across him, and he had him fending when he went for the one that cut in.

Too good.

India captain Rohit Sharma says India were at training yesterday and "dew started to come in pretty early", so that's the reason he's taken the call to chase. With Hardik Pandya injured, there's been some tinkering done.

Replacing a two-in-one cricketer is hard. Hardik walks into most sides as just a batter or a bowler. To compensate for his loss, India have brought in a batter - Suryakumar Yadav - and have sacrificed an allrounder to boost their seam stocks - with Shardul Thakur sitting out for Mohammed Shami. Even so, India are a bit light on the bowling front. Only five options as opposed to six. If one of em has a bad day, they have nowhere to turn to. This is why Hardik is such a crucial ingredient in this side. Without him, the balance doesn't quite work.

India: 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Shreyas Iyer, 5 KL Rahul (wk), 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 Suryakumar Yadav, 8 Mohammed Shami, 9 Jasprit Bumrah, 10 Kuldeep Yadav, 11 Mohammed Siraj

New Zealand: 1 Devon Conway, 2 Will Young, 3 Rachin Ravindra, 4 Tom Latham (capt & wk), 5 Daryl Mitchell, 6 Glenn Phillips, 7 Mark Chapman, 8 Mitchell Santner, 9 Matt Henry, 10 Lockie Ferguson, 11 Trent Boult

Both India and New Zealand have excellent top-order batters. But in this game they may come up against the kind of bowling that's figured them out in the past.

How Rohit Sharma and co deal with Trent Boult and co...

... and how Jasprit Bumrah and co deal with Devon Conway and co could be crucial to decide the way this game swings. For more such insights, enjoy our handy-dandy tactics board

The class of bowler this game will feature is unreal.

There's Trent Boult who has racked up 60 false responses (4th best) and 131 dot balls (2nd best) in the World Cup so far.

There's Mitchell Santner who is the leading wicket-taker of the tournament with 11 wickets.

There's Kuldeep Yadav who has only added to his mystery by upping his pace through the air

There's Ravindra Jadeja, who as Sid Monga memorably noted, hits that good length area so hard he may as well draw water on some coastal areas.

There's Matt Henry, who not that long ago, was struggling to get into the NZ team. But he refused to give up. He lapped up every opportunity he had to keep playing cricket, whether that's with Canterbury back home, or with Kent or Somerset or Derbyshire or Worcestershire in the English county circuit. In fact, he was the top wicket-taker in the Vitality Blast in 2023 - playing T20 cricket on perhaps the flattest pitch on earth, Taunton. This upskilling is the reason why he is keeping an all time great in Tim Southee out of the team. Henry isn't just a new-ball threat anymore.

And finally there's Jasprit Bumrah who does things that defy description (top for false responses and dot balls btw - 67 and 151). Put it this way. He's as good at cricket as this lady is at skating.