Two-thirds of the way into the New Zealand innings, and it feels as if nothing has gone right for India for hours.

The Black Caps are two down, well set with 17 overs to go. Jasprit Bumrah has just dropped a simple chance on the rope, denying Kuldeep Yadav some much-needed relief and costing him a boundary to boot. It’s the fifth drop of the innings. Two ‘out’ decisions have been overturned on review. The partnership crosses 150.

Before the game, this was billed as India’s biggest test yet, and not just because New Zealand are the only other unbeaten side in the competition. Hardik Pandya, their most irreplaceable player, had been ruled out through injury, and the knock-on effects were significant. They had replaced their all-rounders with specialists, a brave call, and one that meant they were exposed should any of their bowlers get targetted. Kuldeep is, and at first, it works. His first six overs are smashed for 54 runs. Is this the moment India fans have feared, when their home World Cup campaign starts coming off the rails?

And then you look up at the scoreboard and realise, actually, India are doing fine. New Zealand are scoring at just above five an over, and Jasprit Bumrah still has six overs to bowl. They might creep up towards 300, and they might still win, but getting properly on top of them with the bat feels almost impossible. You get through Ravindra Jadeja for 0-48 and it feels like a win. Bumrah takes just the one wicket. You can hang in there. But they are too good to dominate, and you have to be at it all the way through.

The death overs bowling from all involved is superb. Kuldeep is brought back at just the right time to have an impact. Mohammed Shami might just be the best player in the world not in his country’s first XI, and shows why with two devastating, stump-seeking missiles on his way to a five-for. Daryl Mitchell makes a hundred, but acceleration is impossible. You cast your mind back to the start, when an irresistible first nine overs left New Zealand 19-2, and 273 feels like a decent recovery. But India have only been, by their standards, OK, and they are still ahead.

In the second, it’s a similar story. Mitchell Santner, who Dinesh Karthik calls “the most underrated bowler in the world” at one point, is Jadeja on steroids, leading the way both with the ball and in the fielder. There are fielders flying to turn boundaries into dots wherever you look. One of the saves brings a comedy run-out, Santner diving, throwing behind his back while still on the ground, and catching Suryakumar Yadav stranded.

New Zealand try and crank the pressure up in the powerplay. They bowl 40 dot balls, and beat the bat 11 times, but of the 20 scoring shots, 12 go for four or six. Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma ride the wave and take India to 63-0 in 10 overs. Still there are errors. Rohit drags on. Gill and Shreyas Iyer each hole out. India don’t quite feel unbeatable. Had some of those plays and misses been edges, the opening stages would have felt different. They were 2-3 against Australia. Here, Ravindra Jadeja is needed with the bat for the first time in the tournament, and it is a need; his unbeaten 39 is level-headed and crucial with Mohammed Shami at No.8.

And yet, for all that, for all that New Zealand bowl well and field better, for all the errors and the mix-ups, India still have enough leeway to try and manipulate another century for Virat Kohli, whose milestone-seeking antics have partially obscured that he has resumed his white-ball dominance, and might just be having the World Cup of his life.

None of this means India will win the whole thing. They are yet to bat first. South Africa will present an intriguing challenge, sure to attack Bumrah and Jadeja rather than settle for par. Funny things happen in knockout cricket. But when India can be a distance from their best and still be this good, it makes them a team to savour.

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