India's bowling collapse undoes morning discipline as Ravindra, Southee steer NZ past 400

India's bowlers began Friday morning with purpose. Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah, sent in to exploit the early conditions at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, kept New Zealand's batsmen on a tight leash. The pitch offered seam movement, and both quicks used it methodically—moving the ball a fraction this way, then a touch more that way, strangling Rachin Ravindra and Daryl Mitchell, who had resumed overnight at 180 for three. Within five overs apiece, Siraj and Bumrah had taken two wickets for 34 runs. Mitchell fell to a backfoot flash at Siraj, caught by Yashasvi Jaiswal at gully. Blundell edged Bumrah to KL Rahul at second slip after being set up by a series of balls brought back into his body, then straightened to catch the edge. It was the kind of bowling that wins Test matches.

By the time Siraj and Bumrah stepped back, New Zealand had lost four wickets for 53 runs in the session. At 233 for seven, India had positioned themselves to limit the damage and use their batting strength to salvage the match—a critical objective after being rolled over for 46 in their first innings. Ravindra Jadeja, who had emerged as India's most effective bowler on the previous evening, had already claimed Glenn Phillips and Matt Henry in successive overs. The morning's discipline had been exemplary. Then, almost imperceptibly, the grip loosened.

Ravindra, the New Zealand left-hander, had been batting beautifully but constrained. At 50 runs from 88 deliveries, he decided the time had come to shift gears. He struck a couple of aggressive strokes off Kuldeep Yadav's wrist-spin, signaling a change in intent. Rohit Sharma, India's captain, took note. Perhaps too focused on keeping Ravindra quiet, the Indian bowlers lost sight of Tim Southee, the tall paceman at the other end—a batsman who had come into the Test with six half-centuries but was hardly considered a major threat. Rohit removed Kuldeep after the wrist-spinner had conceded three fours in a single over, shifting to an all-finger-spin attack with Jadeja and Ashwin. It was a tactical misstep. To lower-order batsmen like Southee, wrist-spin remains a puzzle; finger-spin, by contrast, offers fewer surprises and more opportunities.

Ravindra Ashwin, brought into the attack in the 22nd over of the day, had a morning to forget. He bowled only 11 overs but leaked runs with alarming consistency—either pitching the ball too full or dragging it short, offering nothing in between. His first delivery was a full toss that Ravindra smashed over wide mid-wicket for six. Jadeja, perhaps infected by Ashwin's lack of discipline, also veered from his lines. Boundaries began flowing from both ends. India spread the field wide in desperation, hoping Southee would overreach and offer a catch, but in doing so they surrendered the ability to stop the singles and doubles that kept the strike rotating. Ravindra, now in full flow, accelerated through the 80s and 90s to bring up his second Test century. Southee, batting with unrestrained freedom, reached a 57-ball fifty—a damning indictment of India's raggedness.

The eighth-wicket partnership between Ravindra and Southee added 137 runs in just 132 deliveries, spanning barely an hour and a half. In that same period, New Zealand added 165 runs in 31 overs during an extended first session. Ashwin's final two overs cost 35 runs; his last over alone went for 20, the most he has conceded in a single Test over. His five overs on Friday yielded 48 runs. By the time New Zealand's innings ended, they had crossed 400—a lead that transformed the match's complexion entirely. India's morning discipline, so carefully constructed and executed, had been undone by tactical confusion and bowling lapses in the afternoon. The question now was whether India's batting could respond, or whether the damage inflicted by Ravindra and Southee would prove insurmountable.