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Watch: Darren Bravo bowls ridiculous hooping inswinger for rare first-class wicket, wheels away in epic celebrappeal

by Wisden Staff March 16, 2023 - 5:29am 3 minute read

Watch: In a West Indies 4-day Championship 2022/23 match at Tarouba, Darren Bravo claimed his fifth first-class wicket – in the 108th match of his career.

Bravo opted to bowl after he won the toss for Trinidad and Tobago at the Brian Lara Stadium. Trinidad and Tobago seamer Uthman Muhammad soon trapped Tevin Imlach, reducing Guyana to 7-1.

Bravo had bowled only 51.5 overs across 107 matches in his 16-year first-class career. He had taken only four wickets – but that included 2-18 and 1-24 in the same match, against Guyana, back in 2019/20.

He had bowled two wicketless overs earlier this season, against the Windward Islands. But on this day, he decided to back his medium-paced swing bowling. Perhaps his prior success against Guyana prompted him to.

Bravo bowled the ball outside off stump, but it swung in an absurd curl into the right-handed Kevlon Anderson, beating his bat and thudding on to the front pad. Not waiting for the umpire’s decision, Bravo broke into a celebrappeal as he ran towards his teammates.

Guyana soon became 33-3 before captain Kemol Savory (44), Leon Johnson (62), wicketkeeper Anthony Bramble (56), Kevin Sinclair (69), and Keemo Paul (46) lifted them to 324 as Imran Khan took 4-80 and Bryan Charles 3-85.

Bravo finished with figures of 7-1-32-1. Trinidad and Tobago got an over’s batting before stumps. Their openers took seven runs off Paul’s over.