Hyderabad: Allrounder Michael Bracewell gave Team India a mighty scare as New Zealand nearly chased down a huge target of 350 from a near-hopeless position.
In the end, India emerged victorious by 12 runs to go one-up in the three-match ODI series.
Shubman Gill seemed to have done enough for the home team when he scored a stunning 208 (149 balls, 19×4, 9×6) to power India to 349/8. And when New Zealand were reduced to 131/6, the writing looked to be clearly on the wall.
But then came Michael Bracewell. The left-hander, with fine support from fellow-southpaw Mitchell Santner refused to give up and focused on building a partnership.
Soon, Bracewell started dismissing the Indian bowlers to all parts of the ground with ease and contempt.
The crafty Mohammad Siraj (4/40) broke the rollicking 162-run partnership by dismissing Santner.
Bracewell still took the game to the wire, as New Zealand needed 20 in the final over. Bracewell deposited the first ball beyond the boundary, but Shardul Thakur had his revenge by trapping the marauding leftie leg-before wicket.
Brief scores: India 349/8 in 50 overs (Shubman Gill 208, Rohit Sharma 34; Daryl Mitchell 2/30). New Zealand 337 all out in 49.2 overs (Michael Bracewell 140, Mitchell Santner 57, Finn Allen 40; Mohammad Siraj 4/40, Kuldeep Yadav 2/43, Shardul Thakur 2/54).
Result: India won by 12 runs.
2nd ODI: Jan 21 at Raipur.
