He has gone through a lot recently but at 10.45pm on Sunday night Dwayne Bravo charged towards the Carib Beer Stands in celebration, as he gave the T&T Red Force a narrow 17-run victory over Jamaica in their second game of the 2015 Nagico Super50 Challenge at the Queen's Park Oval.
Set to get 233 for victory, the Jamaicans started the final over needing 18 runs with one wicket in hand. However, Bravo's first ball clipped the stumps of Dave Bernard (40) to spark off wild celebrations and for the moment he would have forgotten that he was dropped by the West Indies selectors for the World Cup.
Jamaica were bowled out for 215 with five balls to spare, with T&T skipper Rayad Emrit claiming 5/56 in his man of the match performance.
Earlier Darren Bravo (55), Keiron Pollard (41) and Dwayne Bravo (34), were the main architects in T&T's solid foundation of 232 all out.
The Jamaican chase got off to a good start with John Campbell (26) and Nkrumah Bonner putting on 44 before Emrit began his demolition job. First he sent back Campbell and followed up with Tamar Lambert (0) and Jermaine Blackwood (14) as the visitors slipped to 88 for three.
Bonner (51) kept Jamaica in the match with some bold hitting before part-timer off spinner Jason Mohammed trapped him lbw as he played across the line. He faced 71 balls and struck five fours. Jamaica also lost Horace Miller (4) as half of their batsmen were back in the pavilion with 118 on the board. Although Andre McCarthy (37) and Bernard batted grittily in a 46-run partnership for the sixth wicket, once Mc Carty fell, the task proved too much for the rest of the batting.
Earlier, play started 15 minutes late due to rain and Jamaica opted to field after winning the toss.
Evin Lewis (6) was bowled by debutant Derval Green for six while his partner Nicholas Sookdeosingh (19) was also castled by Nikita Miller as T&T lost both openers for 42.
Jason Mohammed struggled to six to leave T&T 73 for three. At the other end, Darren Bravo played a number of elegant drives and delicate sweep shots to keep the 2,500 strong crowd entertained. However, the loudest cheer was reserved for his brother Dwayne who received a tremendous welcome in solidarity with his recent troubles with the West Indies Cricket Board.
Dwayne was mostly reserved as 'Lil B' took centre stage, raising his half century in 82 minutes off 72 balls with eight fours and a six. Just as the two seemed settled, Darren (55) was caught by Blackwood off leg-spinner Damian Jacobs.
The senior Bravo then dugged in with Pollard to consolidate the home team's position. They took the score to 163 before Bravo fell leg before to Dave Bernard. He faced 59 balls and struck five fours.
Just when Pollard appeared ready to launch an all out attack, he struck one straight back at Green who held the catch over his head. Pollard faced 44 balls with three fours and two sixes.
It was then left to wicketkeeper/batsman Steven Katwaroo who played a cheeky hand of 31 off 37 balls with three fours and a six to take the Red Force to what turned out to be their winning score. Green took 3/65, while Mindley tallied 2/36 and Miller a stingy 2/18 off his 10 overs.
Red Force will go into action again today when they play the Leeward Islands in their final preliminary round match at 1.30pm at the Queen's Park Oval.
T&T will most likely be without Pollard who picked up a thigh injury. Pollard saw the doctor yesterday and will be available for the semi-finals.
The Leewards will be looking for a win to qualify for the semis. They will come into the match with some confidence, having defeated the West Indies Under-19 on Sunday, with Rakheem Cornwall smashing a century off 70 balls.
T&T has nine points, followed by Jamaica on five, so they would want to ensure that they get another four points to win the group.
teams
T&T Red Force:
Rayad Emrit (Captain), Darren Bravo, Dwayne Bravo, Kevon Cooper, Akeal Hosein, Stephen Katwaroo, Imran Khan, Evin Lewis, Jason Mohammed, Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard, Ravi Rampaul, Jeremy Solozano and Nicholas Sookdeosingh.
Leewards:
Devon Thomas (Captain), Shane Burton, Jason Campbell, Rahkeem Cornwall, Jahmar Hamilton, Montcin Hodge, Shane Jeffers, Steve Liburd, Jeremiah Louis, Anthony Martin, Orlando Peters, Austin Richards Jr, Lyndell Richardson and Gavin Tonge.
scoreboard
TT vs Jamaica
TT inns
E Lewis b Green 5
N Sookdeosingh b Miller 19
DM Bravo c Blackwood b Jacobs 55
J Mohammed c Bonner b Miller 6
DJ Bravo lbw Bernard 34
K Pollard c & b Green 41
K Cooper c Bonner b Green 5
S Katwaroo c Miller b Bernard 31
R Emrit lbw Mindley 8
S Narine b Mindley 3
R Rampaul not out 2
Extras 1nb, 19w, 2lb 23
Total all out 232
Fall of wkts: 8, 42, 73, 105, 163, 170, 188, 223, 227, 232.
Bowling: M Mindley 10-0-36-2, D Green 10-0-65-3, N Miller 10-4-18-2, D Jacobs 10-0-62-1, D Bernard 9.3-0-48-2.
Jamaica inns
N Bonner c Katwaroo b Mohammed 51
J Campbell c Katwaroo b Emrit 26
T Lambert c DJ Bravo b Emrit 0
J Blackwood b Emrit 14
A McCarthy c Katwaroo b Cooper 37
H Miller lbw Cooper 4
D Bernard b Bravo 40
N Miller b Cooper 4
D Green b Emrit 6
D Jacobs b Emrit 3
M Mindley not out 4
Extras 5nb, 9w, 8lb, 4b 26
Total all out (49.1) 215
Fall of wkts: 44, 45, 88, 111, 118, 164, 170, 176, 211, 215.
Bowling: R Rampaul 7-0-40-0, D Bravo 7.1-0-30-1, R Emrit 10-1-56-5, K Cooper 10-0-34-3, S Narine 10-1-31-0, J Mohammed 5-0-12-1.
Result: Red Force won by 17 runs
Man of the match: Rayad Emrit?