The high-scoring thriller at last came to an end and the blues made it possible with a win but not to forget how close the visitors were despite Shubman Gill’s double ton gave the Kiwis a tough target of 350 runs. In the first innings, the Indian top order hoped to survive well after the Sri Lanka dominance but it was only Shubman Gill who played till the end to give team India a tough total, which was worth defending for.
Shubman Gill became the youngest cricketer to smash a double century in the ODI format and also the 5th Indian cricketer to achieve this incredible milestone.
Talking about the second innings, Kuldeep Yadav, Shami, and most significantly Siraj made it possible as New Zealand lost 6 wickets at just 131 runs but it was Michael Bracewell and Mitchell Santner who kept the hopes alive. The Indians, who were primarily anticipating Latham or Conway, were taken aback by Michael’s innings after Bracewell’s incredible performance, which saw him support team New Zealand from the bottom up. After the Kiwis lost 6 wickets, Santner and Michael Bracewell put up 162 runs to turn the match in their favour. But Mitchell Santner was ultimately taken out of by Mohammed Siraj to allow India to comeback in the game.
Hardik Pandya conceded a lot of runs but managed to bowl out a tail-ender which boosted Shardul Thakur’s confidence as India need only 1 wicket to win in the last over while Bracewell was on strike with 20 more runs to claim for a win.
Bracewell smashed an astonishing six in the first delivery of the game’s last over but Shardul Thakur’s yorker delivery ultimately sealed the win for the hosts.
The 162-run partnership between Bracewell and Santner is the highest partnership for New Zealand ever and the third-highest stand for the seventh wicket or lower in ODI cricket, surpassing the 123 run partnership between Jacob Oram & Neil Broom against Bangladesh in Napier in 2010. It was also the highest against India, surpassing the 148 scored in Mirpur last month by Mahmudullah & Mehidy Hasan.
After MS Dhoni, Bracewell became the second player in ODI history to record multiple hundreds while batting at or below position seven. After making an unbeaten 127 off just 82 balls in a chase of 301 after walking in at 120/5 against Ireland in Dublin last July, this was his second three-figure score in the format. Overall, his 140 is the joint third-highest individual score for a player batting at seven or lower in ODIs.
57 balls taken by Bracewell is the third fastest ODI century for New Zealand behind Corey Anderson (36 balls) and Jesse Ryder (46 balls), both of whom achieved the feat against the West Indies in Queenstown on the New Year’s Day in 2014.