It was a cracker of a game between India and New Zealand in the 1st ODI as it was a high scoring thriller as India posted 349/8 whereas New Zealand came really close with 337 but at the end of the day it was not enough as the hosts took the lead. But apart from the result it was the individual performances that grabbed the headlines. Firstly it was Shubman Gill’s double century as he became the fifth Indian to score an ODI double century and was exceptional to p;lay through and help India get to a good total.
In the second innings New Zealand were reeling at 131-6 and then Michael Bracewell came up with an absolute stunner as he smoked 140 runs from 78 balls and almost won the Kiwis the match with his sensational power hitting.
Former Indian cricketer and commentator Aakash Chopra was awe of such a batting performance from a No.7 spin bowling allrounder. He never expected such an innings coming as he thought the Kiwis would soon get bundled out after Tom Latham got out. Cjhopra while reviewing the match on his YouTube channel said, “In my memory, I have not seen an innings of this quality at No. 7 in which Michael Bracewell scored 140 runs off 78 balls. He was absolutely sensational, smashing. When Tom Latham was out at the score of 131, I felt it was game, set and match, because you can’t stage a comeback from there.”
Mitchell Santner joined Bracewell in the middle and the two spin bowlers started weaving a partnership which would provide the platform for the latter to go berserk in the last five overs. The duo built a partnership of 162 runs and almost took the match away from the hosts.
Bracewell was simply striking the ball out of the ground with his power hitting as he scored 10 sixes and 12 boundaries but got dismissed at the wrong time in the last over by Shardul Thakur. Overall it was a great innings which will be remembered for a long time mainly due to his ability to smoke those 10 sixes all over the ground.
Chopra was shocked how Bracewell made the decent sized Hyderabad ground look small with his clean six hitting ability. “The Hyderabad ground is not small but he was hitting sixes on the second tier. He hit 10 sixes and 12 fours. Mitchell Santner was there with him but Michael Bracewell. He bowls off-spin, he didn’t get a wicket in this match, but batting – what a player, he is an absolute gun,” Chopra concluded.
Both India and New Zealand will travel to Raipur to play the second One Day International of this series and they will hoping to deliver yet another cracker of a game just like the first one.
