Auckland: Thin on experience, heavy on result. India's young pace attack bowled New Zealand out for 185 in 40.2 overs at Eden Park.
Shubman Gill won the toss and chose to bowl. The decision paid inside nine overs.
Arshdeep Singh removed Will Young for 9 in the fifth over and Henry Nicholls for 9 in the ninth, both caught off attempted pulls by Shreyas Iyer and Naman Dhir. New Zealand were 44 for 2 and had not yet settled.
The middle overs brought caution from the hosts. Gurnoor Brar broke it with three wickets, and Anshul Kamboj produced the most economical spell of the innings: 2 for 22 from 10 overs, two of them maidens.
Arshdeep finished with 4 for 70 and Brar with 3 for 44. The innings closed in the 41st over when Brar had Tickner caught by KL Rahul.
New Zealand's top scorer was Tickner, a No. 11, with 34 off 23 balls. He and the last man put on 39, the partnership that gave the total whatever respectability it has. Seifert made 38, Phillips 30, Mitchell 28. Nobody in the top order went past 40.
The pitch offered movement and extra bounce, and India's seamers used both. For an attack missing its senior men, the control was the story: 46 dot balls from Kamboj alone, and only three bowlers used for the bulk of the innings.
Arshdeep's four-for is the third by an Indian pacer in an ODI in New Zealand. Srinath took 4 for 23 at Auckland in 2003 and 4 for 52 at Napier in 1995, and Shami took 4 for 55 at Napier in 2014. Arshdeep's 4 for 70 is the fourth-best figures by an Indian quick in the country.
Before play, the Indian top order had a different kind of morning. New Zealand rugby great Keven Mealamu met Gill, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli and presented them personalised jerseys, a moment the BCCI put out on X.
India need 186. Losing the opener of a five-match series would hand New Zealand the kind of head start that is hard to claw back on these grounds.