Michael Bracewell was praised by Aakash Chopra for his brave century in the first ODI against India and New Zealand, which ultimately proved ineffective.The Men in Blue chose to bat first in Hyderabad on January 18, setting the Black Caps a lofty target of 350 runs.Following that, Bracewell scored 140 runs off 78 balls, leaving the visitors trailing by only 12 runs.

"I can't recall ever seeing a No. 7 inning of this quality when Michael Bracewell scored 140 runs off of 78 balls," Aakash Chopra said in a video review of the game posted to his YouTube channel.He was outstanding, simply amazing. When Tom Latham was declared out with the score at 131, I thought it was game, set, and match because you can't mount a comeback from there.

Aakash Chopra elaborated on how the spin-bowling all-rounder nearly saved New Zealand from defeat by winning the game: "Of course, Michael Bracewell was there, and Mitchell Santner was expected to appear, but how many runs will they score? It doesn't happen that they keep hitting till the conclusion, but it did happen.

"Aakash Chopra observed that Bracewell made the reasonably sized Hyderabad stadium appear small, observing: "The Hyderabad ground is hardly small, but he was hitting sixes on the second tier. He had 10 sixes and 12 fours. Mitchell Santner was with him, but not Michael Bracewell.

He bowls off-spin, he didn't get a wicket in this game, but batting - what a player, what a gun."With the visitors needing 350 runs to win, Michael Bracewell's 140-run innings nearly led them to victory, but the Indian bowlers stopped them.