West Indies allrounder Dwayne Bravo became the first bowler to take 500 wickets in T20 cricket in his 459th match. Fourteen years after his debut in the format. Bravo, turning out for Trinbago Knight Riders, picked up the wicket of St Lucia Zouks opener Rahkeem Cornwall to achieve the feat. The wicket also happened to be his 100th in the Caribbean Premier League, making him the first man to that mark. Bravo had also been the first to 300 and 400 T20 wickets as well. Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga is second on the list of T20 wicket-takers, with 390 wickets from 295 matches.

Bravo’s is one of the most storied careers in the T20 format, and the 36-year-old medium-pacer has played for as many as 23 teams including the West Indies, having been a batting allrounder in his younger days. After injury setbacks, Bravo had to reinvent his game to prolong his white-ball career and with his utility, became a mainstay for every franchise team he has since played for. In the IPL alone, he has taken 147 wickets, finishing as the top wicket-taker in the 2013 and 2015 seasons turning up for Chennai Super Kings. That is his highest return in a league, with the CPL being second.

Most of Bravo’s wickets – 283 – have come in the last five overs of a T20 match, where he is generally most used by all his franchises. The 500th, however, came with the new ball as Bravo had Cornwall.

Bravo, 36, has his eyes firmly set on the next T20 World Cup as well, having come out of retirement to rejoin the West Indies team. That decision was taken pre-Covid-19, which has wreaked havoc with the cricket calendar. The T20 World Cup is now scheduled for October 2021, but a good CPL, followed by a good IPL could put Bravo one step closer to his wish of becoming champion once more.

“Of course [I’m still hungry],” he said. “This is what I was born to do. At age 8 is when I found the love for cricket. Said to the guys before, even though there’s no fans, people ask how does it feel to play without any fans. I say for me it don’t really affect me. It’s good to have fans in the stand, whether it’s 500, five people, or a thousand. [But] we have to play the game in one way – full intensity, play with passion, play with heart and play fair. And that’s how I’ve played throughout my life. So whether there’s fans or not, I’ll be able to play one way.”

Caribbean Professional League 20/20 Results

Tues 25 Aug 2020

Jamaica Tallawahs beat Guyana Amazon Warriors by 5 wickets: (Jamaica 113/5 (18/20 ov) to Guyana Amazon Warriors 108/9 (20 ov)

St Kitts and Nevis Patriots beat Barbados Tridents by 6 wickets (St Kitts 152/4 (19.3/20 ov), Barbados (151/7 (20 ov)

Sun 23 Aug 2020

St Lucia Zouks beat Guyana Amazon by 10 runs : (Guyana 134/8 (20 ov), St Lucia 144/7 (20 ov)

Trinbago Knight Riders beat Barbados Tridents by 19 runs: (Trinbago 185/3 (20 ov), Barbados 166/6 (20 ov)

Sat 22 Aug 2020

Guyana Amazon Warriors beat Jamaica Tallawahs by 14 runs: (Guyana 118 (19.1/20 ov), Jamaica 104/7 (20 ov)

St Lucia Zouks beat St Kitts and Nevis Patriots by 10 runs: (St Kitts 162/8 (20 ov), St Lucia 172/6 (20 ov)

CPL Standings

Trinbago Knight Riders 8 points, St Lucia Zouks 8 points, Guyana Amazon Warriors  4 points,

Jamaica Tallawahs 4 points, Barbados Tridents 2 points, St Kitts and Nevis Patriots 2 points