Mum Nikki Bracewell was at work during the game and had to settle for radio and internet updates instead of watching her son making history. But she did record the game and was able to watch it later ... with a bottle of bubbly.
"I'm immensely proud. I just can't stop smiling really. I just want to shout from the rooftops 'that's my boy'," she said.
Bracewell made his international debut in November, donning the black cap for the first time against Zimbabwe. The highlight of his fledgling career, however, came on Monday when he rolled the Australian batting order in a man-of-the-match performance that was overlooked by the Australian public in favour of losing centurion David Warner.
"No surprises there with the Aussies. I guess Australians were voting and they weren't going to vote a Kiwi in. But I think he should have won it," Mrs Bracewell said.
"We love to beat the Aussies and boy, did we do that."
Mrs Bracewell said she spoke to Doug after the game. "I could virtually see him in the changing room having a beer. He said, 'Mum, it's just been amazing. It's just awesome to be here. I love you.' So he was just humble, really.
"[But then] I was really brassed off. They asked him on TV 'have you heard from your family?' And he said yes, he's heard from his dad. But I spoke to him first. I thought 'hang on, what about the mother?"'
She didn't hold his forgetfulness against him for long. She said the accolades he'd received for his bowling performance had been reward for the hard work he'd put into his cricketing career, which started in Tauranga.
"Dougie's worked hard to get where he is. He's got a mature head. Cricket runs through his veins and [father and former New Zealand cricketer] Brendan's been the most fantastic built-in coach. So I'm not surprised," she said.
Bracewell was born in Tauranga and attended Bellevue, Te Puna and Pillans Point schools. Before heading to boarding school for his college years he joined the cricketing ranks of Tauranga Intermediate - where he teamed up with fellow Black Cap Kane Williamson. "He played his first little game down at Fergusson Park," Mrs Bracewell said.
"He played the Gillette Cup and the Milo Cup through intermediate. Kane and Dougie have gone right through [the age grades] and they've always said 'we'll be there in the Black Caps together'."
Bracewell is due home by the end of the week and one proud mum is planning a trip down to his home in Napier to congratulate him.
"I just can't believe it, really. It's unreal," she said.
"He's finished now, he's coming home. I'm hoping to see him this weekend."
