Blackcaps bowler Michael Bracewell has played a key hand in Royal Challengers Bangalore's crucial eight-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League.
In the fifth over, the spinner struck twice in the space of three balls to remove openers Abhishek Sharma and Rahul Tripathi, and put the brakes on the Sunrisers innings.
Bracewell forced Sharma into a miscue to Mahipal Lomror at cover point with his first delivery of the match, before deceiving Tripathi with a slower ball that went straight to Harshall Patel to short fine leg.
South African Hinerich Klassen's brilliant 104 off 54 balls helped the Sunrisers to a total of 186/5, with England's Harry Brooks contributing 27 not out off 19 balls.
An incredible 172-run opening stand between Indian superstar Virat Kohli (100) and former Proteas star Faf Du Plessis (71) set the stage for an impressive win. Kohli's century came from 63 balls - the first time in IPL history that players from both teams had reached 100 in a match.
Bracewell carried the bat to help close out the victory with four balls to spare, scoring an undefeated four runs to complement his bowling figures of 2/23 off two overs.
The result lifts Bangalore into fourth in the competition standings and keeps their hopes of a playoffs berth alive, with their final regular season game against Gujarat Titans to come.
Blackcaps teammate Glenn Phillips failed to fire for the Sunrisers, managing five runs, before pulling to deep square leg.
