Just like many were auditioning in the batting group, India’s bowlers too had a chance to have their say while Jasprit Bumrah was rested. Rana began with his tail up. In his first three legal deliveries after he started with a wide, the pacer got one to shape in, another to shape away from the left-hander from round the wicket and just like that he saw the back of Ryan Rickelton and Quinton de Kock, nicking behind, before they could open their accounts.

Rana looks like a force when he gets his radar right. And because he is trolled heavily when he fails for getting the extra opportunity, his display of emotion in celebrations often has a proved-a-point vibe. Indeed, Rana had made a point with his opening burst of 4-0-20-2, which opened up the match. Both of India’s new ball bowlers held such strangle hold over the proceedings in the early exchanges that Aiden Markram (7) was in no control when he slashed hard against Arshdeep’s angle and his edge was gleefully accepted by captain KL Rahul.

Earlier, Rahul played the perfect finisher with his 56-ball 60. For someone who began at the top order in ODIs, Rahul has had to shapeshift to many new roles. Here, he began slowly and was unable to find the middle of the blade, while Virat Kohli was going all guns blazing at the other end. But once Kohli exited in the 43rd over, Rahul’s improvisations began to reap rewards. His reverse scoop for six against Marco Jansen defying conventional angles as he made room against the left-armer coming from round the wicket gave the packed stands much joy.

Rohit-Kohlil show

It was the Ro-Ko show at the start that kept the 37,000-strong crowd at the JSCA stadium thoroughly entertained. Both Rohit’s and Kohli’s career paths have converged so much at this late stage that their successes and failures are seen from the same prism. As if feeding off each other, the duo stitched together their second consecutive hundred-run partnership.

India’s batting innings accelerated in the 7th over when Rohit pierced a gap between point and cover with precision. For a batter who has become used to charging the fast bowler, he showed swift feet movement and touch play in his innings. As soon as the inexperienced Prenelan Subrayen was introduced with his off-spin, Rohit latched on to the opportunity with two towering sixes over deep mid-wicket. Kohli in a serious batting mood at the other end, got to his fifty first but Rohit didn’t take long to get there either. This was Rohit’s third consecutive fifty — Adelaide, Sydney and now in Ranchi. Both the former captains regaled the home crowd and dispelled concerns around their form.

It’s after Rohit 57 (51b) fell lbw to Jansen in the 22nd over that the batting slowed down. Ruturaj Gaikwad batted at No 4 for the first time in his List A career and it showed. He fell on 8 to a flying catch from Dewald Bravis at backward point. Similarly, Washington Sundar 13 (19b) too wasn’t allowed to break free and was out caught trying to clear the circle. Kohli’s commanding innings 135 (120b) ensured the middle-overs slowdown did not hurt them more.

During the chase, the Matthew Breetzke-Marco Jansen sixth-wicket stand of 97 (69b) gave India a real scare. Jansen, who had troubled India during the Test series, again used his long reach and sheer power to pack a punch against the wet ball as dew made India’s task tougher. Kuldeep Yadav’s twin strikes in the 34th over where he got both to hole out looked to have settled the issue, but Corbin Bosch 67 (51b) took the match to the final over. After Rana’s early strikes, Kuldeep’s crafty spell (10-0-68-4) in difficult bowling conditions stood out.