From the Vault | Dwayne Bravo outfoxes Yuvraj Singh in final-over thriller
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India and West Indies have played many a nerve-wracking ODI in the past, but very few matches are etched in our memories as much as the 2nd ODI at Kingston in 2006. Today, we roll back the clock and re-visit the last over by Dwayne Bravo, which helped the Windies clinch victory by a solitary run.
It was the summer of 2006. A strong Indian contingent led by Rahul Dravid toured the Carribbean island to play a West Indian side which had the perfect blend of youth and experience. India were missing both Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, but had an exceptional set of youngsters in Irfan Pathan, Suresh Raina and S Sreesanth, who were then doing an immaculate job, repaying the faith that the selectors and coach Greg Chappell had put on them.
After weathering the “Gayle Storm” in the first ODI to comfortably chase down a target of 252, the Dravid-led Indian team set their sights on Kingston, Jamaica, where they hoped to stretch their lead to 2-0. After electing to field first, the Men in Blue had the perfect start, as they removed both the openers within the third over. Irfan Pathan was the pick of the bowlers for India with a three-wicket haul, but a valiant 98* from Ramnaresh Sarwan took West Indies to a respectable total of 198 but India would have expected to chase down with ease.
However, as it always is in cricket, things are never straightforward. India were rocked back by a triple-strike from left-armer Ian Bradshaw, and at one stage, found themselves reeling at 60/4, before Raina and Yuvraj got together to steady the ship. But wickets fell in quick succession, and soon after, Yuvraj found himself as the lone-warrior batting along with the tale, and with minimum help from the rest of the batters, he managed to bring down the equation to 11 needed of the last over, with a solitary wicket in hand.
Delivering the final over was a then 22-year-old Dwayne Bravo, who had just bowled three overs in the match prior to that. With Munaf Patel on strike, the youngster had the chance to finish the match off, but he was off target, and Patel dug his bat down to scamper for a single, getting Yuvraj back on strike. The equation now read 10 from 5 balls, but most importantly, for India, the explosive left-hander was on strike. The memories of Natwest final was still not a distant memory.
Bravo bowled one in the slot on the second delivery, and as Yuvraj tried to slog it over mid-wicket, the ball took the outside edge of his bat and raced to the boundary, reducing the equation to 6 off 4 balls. On the very next delivery, the Trinidadian youngster aimed for a wide yorker, and despite only marginally missing the mark, the Indian was quick to pounce on it, and thrashed the delivery wide of extra-cover to a boundary in trademark fashion.
2 needed of 3 balls, and one would assume India were well and truly favorites now. Lot of chatter, discussion and tension ensues within the Windies team, and skipper Brian Lara has a word with the youngster. There’s an air of nervousness around the ground, as Bravo comes in to deliver the fourth ball of the final over.
He bowls a slow, dipping full-toss aimed towards the middle and leg-stump. It’s there to hit, Yuvraj has seen it but NO, it goes and crashes onto the stumps. The Indian committed too early, and as he tried to flick the ball on to the on-side, the ball dipped on him, shattering the base of middle and leg-stump.
An elated Bravo takes off, runs towards the boundary as he’s mobbed by his West Indian teammates, while Yuvraj waits on the pitch, in disbelief, stunned, realizing what had just happened. The Windies had won the match by one run, clawing victory from the jaws of defeat - a victory which would propel them to then go on and claim the series.
Yuvraj’s 93 had gone in vain, but above all, the match, the moment, the delivery was all about Dwayne John Bravo - a youngster who had the audacity to do what he did under unimaginable pressure. This was the beginning of Bravo’s rise as an international superstar, and the rest, as they say, is history.
