Gurnoor Brar's high-pace, wicket-taking bouncers in Wellington will make the highlights reel, but that did not come at the cost of testing batters on the front foot and peppering the shorter lengths too much.
When he got it right, he bounced out Tom Latham and Glenn Phillips in the 20th over, a double-wicket maiden that reduced New Zealand to 53 for 5.
"Before the short ball got me wickets," Brar said, "I tried bowling full to bring the batter forward and test their patience. Then I can bowl the bouncer because I know my bouncer is effective. Overusing it can be a mistake, bowling it at the right moment is important and that happened today."
Recommended Read
Brar finished with 4 for 30 from his ten overs to bowl New Zealand out for 134 and set up a four-run win for India in a tricky chase, via DLS. Apart from his wickets, he contributed indirectly to top-scorer Daryl Mitchell's dismissal.
Mitchell had done well for his 55 and Brar tried to put him off by engaging with him verbally in the 34th over. The next over, Mitchell fell to Axar Patel much to the delight of Brar.
"He [Mitchell] was playing well, according to the demands of the pitch," Brar said. "My attempt was to say something to him and get him to do something different and that's what happened. I said something to him, he left the ball, then I made some gestures, and he got out in the next over.
"According to me, these things work in partnerships. If we build pressure as a bowling unit, then we can restrict oppositions and set easier targets for our batters."
Brar enjoyed bowling on pitches that offered assistance to seamers on Saturday. It was a welcome change from some of the belters he has had to contend with, most notably at Lord's where he went for 0 for 97 against England and in Guwahati, where he went for 2 for 96 against West Indies.
"Obviously, it's a bad match for a bowler when you go for that many runs," Brar said. "But learning and picking yourself up from it is more important. It was demotivating for me; more than that it was figuring out a way to do better, and that helped.
"It's a very nice feeling that even we [bowlers] get helpful tracks, otherwise one-dayers were becoming fully batting dominant as you saw in our series against West Indies.
"I feel that [bowler-friendly] wickets demand you to bowl with greater focus, because if you give away too many runs on them then it becomes difficult for your batters to chase runs as you saw today. Putting in focus brings you good results. So, I try to hit good lengths."
The brief for Brar from the management, including head coach Gautam Gambhir and bowling coach Morne Morkel, and captain Shubman Gill, has been to stick to his strengths and focus on his lengths while assuring him full support. India see Brar as their hit-the-deck weapon in the middle overs.
"Our bowling on flat tracks in India was similar to what it's been here," Brar said. "We have to bowl well there too, and even there we were backed and told that the better we hit our lengths, the better results we'll get.
"Being backed is the most important thing for every player and this team's providing it. The atmosphere in the team is great. In New Zealand they told me to bowl to my strengths. From there, it doesn't matter if you get hit for sixes or fours. They told me to bowl freely, that's what I've done and it's led to good results."