Five times when the smarts, the skills and that slower ball came together to produce magic
Sreshth Shah26-Aug-2020Chennai Super Kings v Mumbai Indians: Eliminator, IPL 2012Bravo’s 14-ball 33 at the death looked like it would be the match-winning performance of the evening as the Super Kings posted 187. But he returned with the ball to do even better in a high-stakes match in Bengaluru.Although Mumbai were struggling at 96 for 5, they still had big hitters James Franklin and Kieron Pollard – who had been in prime batting form through the season – in the middle, and Bravo was struggling with a hamstring issue that forced MS Dhoni to hold him back until the 14th over. With the allrounders looking to keep up with the steadily rising required rate, Bravo brought out his full bag of tricks. Franklin bottom-edged his third ball to Dhoni, and Bravo raced away in celebration as if the hamstring problem simply didn’t exist. He closed out a two-run over with a bouncer that hit Harbhajan Singh on the helmet, a single, and a yorker that Pollard couldn’t put bat to.After keeping Pollard off strike for the first three balls of the 16th over, Bravo conceded just the solitary boundary from the last three, putting the required rate well beyond Mumbai’s reach. Off the last ball of the 18th over – which had till that point only gone for four runs – Pollard mis-hit a short ball and holed out to long-on. As Pollard walked back, Bravo made sure to give him a send-off. With the match all sealed up, Dhoni opted not to risk Bravo’s hamstring further, and allowed Ravindra Jadeja to bowl the 20th over instead.Chennai Super Kings v Dolphins: Champions League, 2014On a flat batting deck in Bengaluru, the Super Kings posted 242 courtesy a 43-ball 90 from Suresh Raina. But on that pitch, and on one of the smaller grounds in the country, even that total was in danger as the Dolphins raced away to 115 for 3 in ten overs. On came Bravo for his first over, and out came his unhittable slower ball. He made an immediate impact, conceding just three runs and taking out the set batsman Cody Chetty in his first over.Two expensive overs from the spinners followed, and Bravo returned from the other end. He struck with another slower ball, getting Vaughn van Jaarsveld caught at long-on, and conceded just one run off that over. Only one run came off the first five balls of that over, and the pressure duly produced a run-out.Having swung the match comprehensively in the Super Kings’ favour, Bravo closed out his performance by conceding just 13 off his last two overs. He finished with an economy rate of 4.25 from his four overs. The rest of the Super Kings attack went at a combined 10.69.Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel v Jamaica Tallawahs: CPL 2015That Bravo is one of West Indies cricket’s most reliable T20 cricketers was on show in this game. Red Steel scored just 145 in 20 overs despite losing only three wickets; and if it wasn’t for Bravo’s 30-ball 49, their score would’ve been much lower, considering they were 76 for 3 after 13 overs when he walked in.During the chase, watching the Tallawahs’ Chris Gayle bat seemed like both sides were batting on different wickets, with him racing away to 27 runs in just 12 deliveries. To stop the run flow, Bravo was brought on earlier than usual. He came into the attack in just the third over in a gamble that meant the Red Steel would have to make do with one less over from him at the death. But Bravo struck off the final ball of the over, having frustrated Gayle for most part, after a slower ball was mistimed to long off.Having crippled the Tallawahs with a flurry of dots at the death, Bravo was now hda to keep Andre Russell quiet in the 19th over. He passed that test with distinction, though, dismissing Russell with a slower ball that was cut to deep point when the Tallawahs needed just 16 runs in ten deliveries. That wicket and three further dots meant the Tallawahs still needed 16 off the final over, enough for Kevon Cooper to close the game out without much trouble and hand Red Steel a win.Dwayne Bravo dismissed MS Dhoni off the last ball to eke out a one-run win against India at Lauderhill in 2016•AFPChennai Super Kings v Kolkata Knight Riders: IPL 2015The Super Kings’ task was cut out while defending 134 against defending champions Knight Riders in Chennai. With five overs left, the visitors needed 45 more to seal the win, with six wickets in hand. That’s when Bravo kickstarted a middle-order choke that eventually led his side to a two-run win.Yusuf Pathan, batting sedately, looked to take Bravo on in the 16th over, but ended up inside-edging a slower ball onto his stumps. When Pat Cummins tried to clear deep midwicket in the 18th over, all he could do was find the fielder on the boundary. And four balls later, Piyush Chawla skied a slower ball that eventually dropped into Dhoni’s gloves.With the Knight Riders needing 17 off the final over, Dhoni gave the ball to Bravo, who at that point had figures of 2-0-8-3. He began the over with three dot balls, two of which Ryan ten Doeschate couldn’t put bat to. Ten Doeschate finally got hold of Bravo in the end, smashing the last three balls for 6, 6, 4, but that wasn’t quite enough, and the Super Kings ended up on the winning side in one of the best games of the season.West Indies v India: Lauderhill, 2016It wasn’t a day for the bowlers. An Evin Lewis century powered West Indies to 244, and KL Rahul replied in kind for India, to leave them 238 for 3 at the start of the final over. Rahul was still at the crease, with MS Dhoni, and it seemed there was only one way this game could end. But Bravo – who had conceded 32 in his first three overs – had other ideas. A mixture of slower balls and yorkers, delivered with clever changes in line, left MS Dhoni needing to score two off the last ball to seal the win.It had come down to this: a great death bowler, a great finisher, and one ball. Bravo went for his trusted offcutter, and Dhoni looked to dab it square on the off side for the double India needed. But the ball gripped, took a thick edge, and lobbed towards short third man, where Marlon Samuels – who had dropped Dhoni at the same position at the start of the over – completed the catch. For once, Dhoni had failed at the finish, and Bravo broke into his trademark dance.
