Twitter Reactions: Shubman Gill and Michael Bracewell put up a show in Hyderabad as India clinch thriller
While Gill scored a double century, Bracewell notched up a century during New Zealand's chase.
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Runs kept piling up from both ends in the first ODI between India and New Zealand at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad when the two sides squared off on Wednesday, January 18. The game turned out to be a nail-biting thriller as the visitors came very close to a victory, but the Men in Blue held their nerves and bagged a cut-throat 12-run win.
Winning the toss, Rohit Sharma opted to bat first. India did not have the services of senior players KL Rahul, Axar Patel, and Shreyas Iyer, which led the Men in Blue to make some forceful changes to their combination. Similar was the case with New Zealand as Tom Latham had been appointed captain of the side in the absence of Kane Williamson.
India’s start to the innings was slow as openers Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill managed to post only 52 runs in the powerplay. Blair Tickner got the visitors the first breakthrough by dismissing the Indian skipper. Virat Kohli, who was coming on the back of a brilliant century from India’s recent ODI outing, could not impress this time around and was dismissed cheaply by Mitchell Santner.
Wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan too failed to impress. India’s innings steadied when Gill and Suryakumar Yadav partnered for the fourth wicket and put up a 65-run stand. Even after Suryakumar’s dismissal, Gill kept going alongside vice-captain Hardik Pandya as the duo stitched up a 74-run partnership for the fifth wicket. In every partnership that was formed in the middle, Gill was the major contributor.
He scored almost 60% of India’s total and went on to bag his maiden double-century in style. The youngster hit three consecutive sixes to reach the milestone and became just the fifth Indian player to smack a double century in the 50-over game after Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Rohit, and Ishan. He was dismissed in the final over and batted almost the entire innings as India posted a humongous 349/8.
New Zealand started off the chase with high intentions, but local hero Mohammed Siraj played a spoilsport to their party and handed India the first breakthrough by dismissing the in-form Devon Conway. Henry Nicholls and Finn Allen tried steering New Zealand’s innings with their 42-run partnership but Shardul Thakur managed to send the latter packing.
New Zealand lost two more wickets quickly as Nicholls and all-rounder Daryl Mitchell were shown the path back to the pavilion. Michael Bracewell and Santner, with their record-breaking 162-run seventh-wicket partnership, resurrected New Zealand’s innings and brought the visitors back into the game. Bracewell got to his second ODI century, and though Santner did not do much scoring, he assisted Bracewell brilliantly as the duo handled New Zealand’s chase.
It was late in the 46th over when Mohammed Siraj struck twice to dismiss Santner and Henry Shipley. The pacer ended with 4/46 and put India in a dominant position by picking up two quick wickets in the final over of his spell, but the Indian bowlers could not tackle Bracewell as he kept going till the very end.
The game came down the wire when New Zealand required 24 runs to win off the final two overs with two wickets in hand. While Hardik Pandya managed to restrict the opposition well, Shardul Thakur’s mistakes in the final over put India in misery. After giving away a maximum and a wide, he managed to dismiss Bracewell and put an end to his prowess as India clinched a close 12-run victory.
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