[6] He then scored a century in his Plunket Shield début against Northern Districts.
[7] He was the leading run-scorer for Northern Districts in the 2018–19 Ford Trophy, with 293 runs in nine matches.
After playing several matches for the New Zealand A, he made his Test debut for the national team against Zimbabwe in November 2011 after an injury to Jesse Ryder, qualifying to represent New Zealand by way of his father, who was born in Christchurch.
[9] He then played in the Australian test series and was New Zealand's best batsman, scoring 77 unbeaten in Brisbane.
On 5 February 2017, Brownlie replaced Martin Guptill in the final match of Chappell-Hadlee series in Hamilton, marking his first match in international level in 2 years.