‘Not my day’: Michael Bracewell on 1st ODI defeat despite scoring 140
Michael Bracewell single-handedly kept New Zealand in the game after New Zealand were 131 for 6 chasing 350 against India in the first ODI at Hyderabad on Wednesday, 18 January. Bracewell scored 140 runs in just 78 balls and hit 9 sixes. and 12 fours but he failed to take the team home in the last over when his team needed 20 runs. Michael Bracewell, devastated after missing out on a win despite a magical knock, said it was not his day.
Bracewell and Mitchell Santner steadied the ship at a time when New Zealand were virtually out of the competition after Mohammed Siraj put in an exceptional performance on his home ground. However, both the left-handers shared a 162-run partnership for the seventh wicket in just 17 overs. But he missed by 12 runs.
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“We were just trying to give ourselves chances. Unfortunately, we missed it in the end. Once Michelle and I managed to settle down, we started to believe. We weren’t trying to win it then, just Wanted to take it deeper to give us a chance,” Bracewell said during the game, explaining the thought process. “We left a lot to do in the end. You back yourself to get 20 runs in the last over, unfortunately it wasn’t my day today.
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However, Michael Bracewell said he struggled to consistently hit it out of the park after scoring his century and praised India’s bowlers for keeping up the pressure in the death. However, earlier in the day, India managed to score 349 runs on the back of Shubman Gill’s brilliant double century. Gill scored 208 runs while the next best scorer was Rohit Sharma who scored 34 runs. The second ODI will be played in Raipur on Saturday 21 January.
He said, ‘It was difficult to remove them at that time. Unfortunately, we could not cross the border today,” concluded Michael Bracewell.
