Starting of his international career as a batsman who can bowl, Dwayne Bravo’s skill set with the ball in white-ball cricket has overshadowed his prowess with the bat. In the last five years, Bravo has batted at the lower order chipping in with cameos here and there. However, on Sunday he was entrusted with the job of batting at No 5 after five years and the veteran cricketer didn’t disappoint.
Being promoted up the order when West Indies were struggling at 59/3, Bravo steadied the ship with a 102-run partnership with Shimron Hetmyer and made full use of his new role at No 5. He remained unbeaten on 47 of 34 deliveries which included four and three sixes. Sending Bravo up the order might not happen on a consistent basis but this innings reminded everyone of his forgotten skill and what he adds to any team he plays for.
"It was always in the team plan if we bat first and we lose early wickets for me to go in and control the innings with the bat - it's more my style of play," Bravo said after West Indies defeated Australia by 56 runs in the second encounter.
"Pick up the ones and twos lay that solid platform for the likes of [Andre] Russell, Fabian [Allen], Pooran, if Polly is in the squad, to do what they have to do in the back end. I must be honest, at some point, I was trying to get out at the back end to allow Russell and these guys to finish off,” he added.
Bravo came at a time when West Indies had just lost the dangerous Chris Gayle. He played second fiddle to Hetmyer who was smashing the ball all around the park, Bravo proved to be a perfect foil for the left-hander and the century partnership ended up being decisive in the end as Windies managed to register a convincing victory.
He also starred with the ball bagging the wicket of Daniel Christian to peg back Australia further in the run chase. Bravo spoke on his role in the team and how he tries to guide the young guns forward.
"It's just about guiding the younger players: Hety, Pooran, Obed McCoy, Hayden Walsh...that's the kind of information we keep feeding to these younger players," Bravo said.
“We needed partnerships and the way Hetmyer batted in the first game and into this game, it's just a pleasure to see him bat. He's a batting leader in our group, we gave him the responsibility to take control of the batting and show some maturity. We all know how classy he is and how dangerous he can be, [the advice was] just to bat deep, it's a ground that has a big wind factor advantage,” he further added.