Dhaka, Bangladesh — Dwayne Bravo was all smiles as he watched his brother Darren Bravo reach his maiden international century and was one of the first persons on the phone to congratulate him afterwards. Dwayne, the West Indies allrounder, said it was pleasing to see the awesome display of strokes by the classy left-hander, who reached triple figures for the first time on Monday against Bangladesh in the second Test match at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.
Speaking to www.windiescricket.com, Dwayne said: "We talked to each other after he made the hundred and the first thing I did was to give him my congratulations and let him know what a superb job he did for the team. It was really great to see my brother get his first century for the West Indies. Everyone here is really happy to see him reach that milestone and I just want to urge him to keep on and get even more."
Playing his 18th Test innings, the 22-year-old Darren went on to make a superb 195 off 297 balls with 12 boundaries and five towering sixes. It was his highest first-class score surpassing the 111 made for Trinidad & Tobago and allowed the Windies to set the host team a victory target of 507 runs in 4 ½ sessions.
Darren featured in two big partnerships. He added 151 for the third wicket with Kirk Edwards who made 86 to follow up his first innings 121. He then put together 143 for the fifth wicket with Shiv Chanderpaul, who made 59 not out – his 56th half-century at Test level.
Before Tuesday’s knock, Darren’s highest score in the series was 24 not out made in the second innings of the drawn first Test at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong.
"I was in Guyana (at the WICB Regional Super50 Tournament) and we were speaking to each other regularly. He was not getting a lot of runs so I told him to just try and relax and not to put himself under pressure. He was getting a few starts and I didn’t want him to become too frustrated.
"I was in that position before. My advice was to be fearless and back himself and his ability. It was good to see how it worked out for him. I also want to congratulate Kirk Edwards, who has been batting really well and also urge him to keep playing well."
Dwayne, who turned 28 last month, has made three centuries in 40 Tests and one in 117 One-Day Internationals. He was recently named captain of the West Indies A team to play against Bangladesh A. The seven-match Digicel Series bowls off with a four-day match at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Ground in Antigua on November 5.
"I’m really looking forward to this series," Bravo said. "We have some young and exciting players in the team and the plan is to play some good cricket against the Bangladesh team. There is a lot to play for and I know everyone is looking forward to the opportunities."