Such is the nature of limited-overs cricket that even a century can threaten to overshadow a double-hundred at times.

The innings that Michael Bracewell (140 off 78 balls) played when New Zealand looked down and out, reeling at 131/6 in the 29th over in response to India’s 349/8 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Wednesday, almost took the sheen off Shubman Gill’s 208.

In the end though, India managed to scrape through as in spite of the breathtaking 162-run seventh-wicket stand between Bracewell and Mitchell Santner (57 off 45 balls), New Zealand were all out for 337 with four balls remaining as India won the first ODI by 12 runs.

While sheer timing and placement were the characteristics of Gill’s 149-ball knock that comprised 19 boundaries and nine sixes, that of off-spinner all-rounder Bracewell was all about blistering strokeplay which was also assisted by Indian bowlers taking the foot off the gas after the Black Caps were six down and over-use of the short-pitched delivery.

The Hyderabad pitch did have something in it for the bowlers, and the in-form Mohammed Siraj (4/46) and Kuldeep Yadav (2/43 in 8 overs) bowled the right lengths to strike early and deny New Zealand a brisk start which was crucial to chase down the daunting total. Those early wickets were also a factor behind India somehow prevailing in spite of the counter-punching seventh-wicket stand between Bracewell and Santner.

Again, it was Siraj who held his nerves and made sure New Zealand didn’t snatch the game away from India in his first ODI at home. Relying on the short stuff, Siraj forced Santner to miscue one and then cleaned up Henry Shipley in the 46th over that turned the game back in India’s favour.

Bracewell, scoring his second ODI ton, kept the visitors’ hopes alive till the deciding over. But just one error from him off Shardul Thakur brought about his downfall and had the Indians smiling.

The end result certainly reflects the significance of Gill’s knock. In fact, the next best individual score after Gill in India’s innings was only 34 by captain Rohit Sharma, although Suryakumar Yadav (31) and Hardik Pandya (28) did well to forge important partnerships of 65 and 74 with Gill for the fourth and fifth wickets, respectively.

Agreed, New Zealand let Gill off twice. First on 45 when captain Tom Latham failed to hold on to a nick off Bracewell’s bowling, which was also a stumping opportunity, and thereafter on 124 with pacer Shipley spilling a caught-and-bowled chance.

Also, this was New Zealand’s second-string attack. Nonetheless, one cannot deny the class and maturity Gill showed throughout his stay in the middle.

India were going through a quiet period following Pandya’s contentious dismissal. He was given out by the TV umpire even though replays showed it was Latham’s gloves that dislodged the stumps as the ball went over them.

However, Gill stepped up again to unleash a flurry of sixes, especially in the last two overs of the first half which were key to pushing India’s total closer to 350. He hammered Lockie Ferguson for three maximums on the trot, and one of them — launched over mid-off — brought up his maiden international double-hundred in the 49th over.

“I wasn’t thinking about 200 before I hit those sixes towards the end. That’s when I thought I could get a double,” Man-of-the-Match Gill said later.

“I won’t call it a ‘wow’ feeling, but it feels nice when the ball goes off the bat like how you want it to. It has sunk in pretty well.”