Dwayne Romel Smith (born 12 April 1983) is a former Barbadian international cricketer who has represented the West Indies in all three formats of the game. An all-rounder, he is known as an aggressive and powerful right-handed batsman, bowls medium pace, and is also an athletic fielder. Smith was a part of the West Indies team that won the 2012 T20 World Cup.
Smith played for Barbados since the start of his career but also played three seasons, from 2008 to 2010, for Sussex. He became a sought-after Twenty20 player, making appearances in the Indian Premier League for the Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians together with the Deccan Chargers, New South Wales in the Australian Big Bash, Khulna Royal Bengals in the Bangladesh Premier League and Islamabad United in the Pakistan Super League. On 1 March 2017, Smith announced his retirement from international cricket.
Smith currently holds the record for the highest strike rate of 414.28 in a T20I innings.
Domestic career
Smith made his first-class debut for Barbados in January 2002 in a Busta Cup match against Guyana. He did not bowl in the match but made scores of 10 and 35, his second innings ended after he was out hit wicket, an unusual form of dismissal. In his fifth match of the season, against the Leeward Islands, there were two notable occasions for Smith; he took his first wicket and, with an innings of 102, scored his first century. He finished the season with a batting average of 21.36.
In the 2002–03 season his bowling was used more often, he took seven wickets at an average of 28.42. His batting average improved to 24.55 but he was not able to score a half century during the season. Barbados finished as tournament winners but Smith did not feature in the final. It was not until October 2003 that Smith played his first List-A match, scoring a duck on his debut against Antigua and Barbuda in the 2003–04 Red Stripe Bowl. However, his form improved and he finished the season with a batting average of 39.75 and a highest score of 92 not out.
Smith went on to score the most runs in the 2009 edition of the WICB Cup. Smith later won with Barbados, the 2011 WICB Cup title, which was shared with the Leeward Islands. He also won the 2014 CPL title with the Barbados Tridents, scoring a match winning 59 in the final against the Guyana Amazon Warriors.
Smith once again topscored in the 2014 Regional Super 50 tournament. He went on to score a matchwinning innings of 83 for Barbados against Trinidad and Tobago in the final of the tournament. Smith was eventually awarded the man of the match for his triumphant knock.
Indian Premier League
In 2008 Smith was added to the Mumbai Indians squad during the inaugural IPL season, he replaced his national teammate Dwayne Bravo. He played four games during the season and was most notable for his bowling; he took 5 wickets at an average of 16.60.
In the following edition of the IPL Smith was bought at the player auction for US$100,000 by the Deccan Chargers. His batting was a lot more successful than his bowling on this occasion; he scored 215 runs at an average of 26.87 compared with 1 wicket at an average of 124.00. Deccan Chargers won the tournament but Smith did not appear in the knock-out stages. He was retained by the Deccan chargers for the 2010 season but only played three matches. In 2012, he was signed by the Mumbai Indians as a replacement player for the injured Mitchell Johnson. On 6 May 2012, he played a vital role in the win of Mumbai Indians against Chennai Super Kings, when he hit Ben Hilfenhaus to the fence thrice in a row – a 6, followed by two consecutive 4s, when 14 runs were required off the last three balls.
In 2014, Smith was bought by Chennai Super Kings for Rs. 42,500,000.
Pakistan Super League
Smith was bought for disclosed amount by Islamabad United he made his debut in 2016 season. Smith joined the side when half of team's matches were played. In the Final of 2016 season Smith won the Man of the Match award after he took United to title victory by scoring 73 from 51 balls. He was retained by United at 2017 Pakistan Super League players draft. He was the leading run scorer for his side scoring 274 runs in 9 matches he played.
County cricket
Smith has spent three seasons playing for the English County side Sussex. He originally signed for Sussex on a short-term deal for their 2008 Twenty20 Cup season. After impressive performances, in particular a highest score of 72 not out against Hampshire, he signed a two-and-a-half-year deal as a Kolpak player. That season Smith also played in for Sussex in the Pro40. He played seven of the eight matches, helping Sussex to the Division one title.