However the introduction of Bracewell (4 for 55) proved a masterstroke as he accounted for Gayle with his first ball, caught behind by Tom Latham for 22.
Bracewell followed that up with the wicket of Shai Hope two balls later, again caught behind by Latham. Hope referred the decision but a spike on real time snicko had him back in the pavilion for a duck.
Lewis and debutant Shimron Hetmyer recovered ahead of the first drinks break and continued towards the midway stage of the innings.
Astle then came on and immediately applied pressure to the settled pair. The slow scoring rate eventually got the better of Hetmyer, who holed out to Lockie Ferguson in the deep for 29.
Ferguson put the visitors under more duress as his pace proved too hot to handle for Jason Mohammed, skittled for just 9.
Lewis meanwhile was providing the glue for the West Indies innings, bringing up a calculated fifty in the 27th over, reaching the mark in 77 deliveries.
Captain Jason Holder came in and looked to support the settled Lewis but an excellent piece of fielding work scuppered those plans.
Holder nicked one off Bracewell wide of Taylor at third slip but he leaped in the air and took a one-handed blinder.
Holder said in the lead-up 300 would be a par score but the fall of Lewis at 177 for 6 made that target unlikely.
Astle threatened to take wickets throughout his spell and picked up the crucial dismissal of the opener for a well-complied 76.
Astle picked up his third shortly after, trapping Ashley Nurse in front for 2. He ended with figures of 3 for 33 from his 10 over spell.
Ferguson (2 for 49) came back on and after being deposited out of Cobham Oval by Rovman Powell, he bounced back to have Ronsford Beaton caught behind for 3 off 26 deliveries.
Powell added great impetus at the end of the innings, reaching his maiden fifty.
He hit Boult for 17 in four balls in the penultimate over which ended up going for 20.
Powell hit another six in the final over before being caught in the deep by Williamson for 59, giving Bracewell his fourth.
The West Indies ran for two off the final delivery to end their innings on 248 for 8.
NZ: George Worker, Colin Munro, Kane Williamson (c), Ross Taylor, Tom Latham, Henry Nicholls, Todd Astle, Doug Bracewell, Tim Southee, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult.
WI: Chris Gayle, Evin Lewis, Shai Hope (wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Mohammed, Jason Holder (c), Ronsford Beaton, Shannon Gabriel, Rovman Powell, Ashley Nurse, Kesrick Williams.
