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How appropriate that the two most effective bowlers in the opening Twenty20 clash against India were the rival twirly guys.
There was a time when the notion of playing spinners in the three-hour bash was viewed as akin to letting a group of kids loose in a sweet
shop and expecting them to leave with empty pockets.
Medium pace or above, line and length, keep it tight was the mantra.
On Wednesday night, deliveries of decent line and length by bowlers from both sides were eased into the building site at AMI Stadium in Christchurch.
The power of the modern bats, the incredibly large sweet spots they possess, and in the hands of batsmen with the skill and sharp eye to get under a good length delivery, combine to make the old-school idea of parsimony just that: out of date.
Dan Vettori and Harbhajan Singh will have plenty more duels in the course of the next nine internationals on India's tour of New Zealand.
They provide a contrast in technique and temperament, but share common ground in their standing as being among the best spinners in the game.
Vettori first. After New Zealand had battled back from being taken apart early in Christchurch, Vettori came on for the seventh over and bowled his four overs for just 18 runs.
He took the important wicket of the dangerous lefthander Yuvraj Singh with his second delivery, lbw trying to sweep.
When New Zealand batted, it was a similar story. Harbhajan also came on for the seventh over and had Martin Guptill lbw with his fourth ball just as the Auckland batsman was threatening to take the game beyond India's reach.
So both spinners had an immediate impact on the game.
Contrast their tidiness with some of their colleagues.
Tim Southee's four overs went for 42; Nathan McCullum's two cost 27 while the Pathan brothers, Irfan and Yusuf, walked off with a combined analysis of 5.4-0-75-0 for their night's work.
Vettori and Harbhajan began their international careers a year apart and both in tests. Harbhajan was 17, Vettori a week after turning 18.
Harbhajan's introduction was against Australia at Bangalore and not notably auspicious; Vettori began with 34.3 overs for two for 98 in an innings loss to England at the Basin Reserve in 1997. Vettori's was the heaviest workload in the innings, so not much has changed down the years.
In his second test a few days later, he was called on to bowl 57 overs, taking a remarkable four for 97 but could not prevent England pulled off a fine, series-clinching win in Christchurch.
Harbhajan's finest work came against Australia in one of cricket's great test series in 2001.
He took 32 wickets in the three tests, including the first hat-trick by an Indian. The next best effort by an Indian bowler in the series was three wickets.
Where they differ is that the Indian has a volatile personality, is unafraid to speak his mind and is a figure involved in several high profile spats, most notably with his good mates, the Australians.
Vettori is the opposite, a cricketer who gets on with his work quietly and highly effectively. As captain, he probably figures expending energy foolishly is a waste of time anyway when his mind has more important matters to attend to out in the middle.
The fact that the pair of them were the best bowlers on show in Christchurch didn't escape Vettori's attention.
The ridiculously short boundaries put their own restriction on how the two could bowl. Using flight was not on, but changes in pace, angle and length provided compensations.
"[Bowling in Twenty20] is difficult but it's a huge challenge," he said.
"Harbhajan and myself bowled pretty well. You probably have to change your game a bit. Sometimes you have to flatten out a little more because you know a miss-hit can go for six.
"At Wellington [for tonight's second game], the boundaries are a bit bigger so maybe you can bring a little more into your repertoire. But you have to do the job that needs to be done for your team on the day and good spinners can adapt to conditions."
The world's three highest test wicket takers are all spinners - Muttiah Muralitharan 770 and rising; Shane Warne 708 and Anil Kumble, just retired with 619.
Harbhajan, whose test numbers are superior to Vettori but fractionally inferior in ODIs, lies 20th on the all-time list; Vettori sits 26th.
There are five ODIs and three tests ahead. The purists are in for a treat.
DANIEL VETTORI
Age: 30
International debut: March 1997
Tests: 89
Wickets: 286 at 33.09
5 in innings/10 in match: 18/3
ODIs: 235
Wickets: 239 at 32.26
5 in innings: 2
HARBHAJAN SINGH
Age: 28
International debut: April 1998
Tests: 74
Wickets: 314 at 30.88
5/10: 22/5
ODIs: 180
Wickets: 202 at 32.97
5 in innings: 2
