Ranked world No. 3 behind Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, Mitchell validated his ranking with a determined 84 off 71 balls, hitting five fours and three sixes to stabilize the middle order after a slump. His performance was essential as New Zealand faltered from a strong start.
Openers Devon Conway (56 off 67 balls; six fours, one six) and Henry Nicholls (62 off 69 balls; eight fours) had previously constructed a fluent 117-run partnership, keeping India at bay for the first 21 overs. However, the momentum shifted sharply once Harshit Rana returned for his second spell.
Rana’s incisive spell of 2 for 13 in two overs shattered the middle order, putting New Zealand on the back foot. As wickets fell at regular intervals, Mitchell remained steadfast, offering stability and late momentum to ensure the visitors reached the 300-run milestone.
New Zealand tumbled from 117 for no loss in the 22nd over to 198 for five in the 38th. However, Mitchell formed essential partnerships to rescue the innings, with debutant Kristian Clarke contributing with three late fours to end up with 24 not out off 17 balls.
In the 22nd over, Rana employed a slower delivery to disrupt the century partnership between Conway and Nicholls. An unassuming off-cutter bowled wide of the batter saw Nicholls reaching out, resulting in an edge that the wicketkeeper caught for India’s first breakthrough.
In the 24th over, Rana mixed slower balls with some above 140 kmph to keep the Kiwis on their toes. On the final delivery of the over, he had Conway’s inside edge crashing into the stumps.
However, India and Rana might have secured an earlier wicket had Kuldeep Yadav (1/52) held onto a straightforward catch at third man in the fifth over when Nicholls had only five runs.
Siraj bowled a slower ball that had Will Young edging behind the wickets, while Prasidh Krishna (2/60) dismissed Mitchell Hay (12) in the 37th.
Feeling under the weather for the past few days, Glenn Phillips seemed a bit sluggish during his short innings, which ended at the hands of Kuldeep, and a spectacular direct hit from Shreyas Iyer caught Kiwi skipper Michael Bracewell short of his crease.
Earlier, Conway started with a drive down the wicket for his first boundary, while Nicholls took his time to settle in and effectively used the sweep shot to find the occasional boundary.
The duo grew in confidence, flawlessly executing sweeps and reverse sweeps while rotating the strike effectively to form the century partnership.
