Modern-day white-ball cricket has changed so much that a 20-run chase off the last over of a white ball game doesn’t sound impossible anymore and one would think that it might have happened many times before, but actually yesterday, for the first time ever in the history of ODI cricket, the New Zealand batsman Michael Bracewell pulled off a chase of 20 runs off the last over of the innings.
It was against Ireland that New Zealand needed 20 runs off the last over while chasing a target of more than 300 and since they had just one wicket in hand, Ireland was the firm favorite at that stage because of one mishit from the batsman would have won Ireland the game.
But, Michael Bracewell had other ideas. The left-hander had already completed his hundred before the last over started and he went all bonkers in the last over right from ball one. All the five deliveries bowled in the over went for boundaries, three along the ground and two over the fence, and the job was done for the Kiwis with one ball in hand.
Michael Bracewell recently made his test debut in England
Michael Bracewell had played a couple of ODIs for New Zealand long back, but he had fallen off the radar after that. He recently made his test debut in England and showed glimpses of his batting talent, however, he wasn’t able to convert his starts into big scores against England.
But, against Ireland yesterday, Bracewell showed what batting potential he actually has, as he played his shots all around the ground and looked fluent right throughout the innings, even though the Ireland fast bowlers bowled decently well.
First time in ODI history a team has successfully chased 20 runs target in the 50th over. New Zealand needed 20 off last 6 balls to win against Ireland and they do it with a ball remaining. Terrific hitting from Michael Bracewell who hit 4 4 6 4 6 in the last over. #IrevNZ
Advertisement— Mazher Arshad (@MazherArshad) July 10, 2022
Bracewell is expected to get a long rope in New Zealand middle order now. He is a bit of a late bloomer in his career as he is already 31 now, but with the kind of form he is in, one can imagine that he has good 4-5 years of international cricket ahead of him.
