Kemar Roach Surprised with Rapid Five-Wicket Haul

Kemar Roach, who single-handedly thrashed Bangladesh in the opening day of the first Test at Antigua, admitted that the five-wicket haul was surprising and was quite rapid.

Meanwhile, his brilliance helped bundle the tourists out for 43 – the lowest total in Test cricket in the last 44 years. Windies hasn’t played much cricket here – just five times before the ongoing Test didn’t let unfamiliarity with conditions come in the way.

Talking about his preparation, Roach admitted that he talked with one of his teammates to know about the condition. He also noted that he wanted to bowl in right areas which worked for him.

“Yeah, it’s [the conditions in North Sound] different,” Roach said. “I haven’t played much here, but I’ve been talking to one of the guys – Alzarri Joseph – he’s from here. He told me that the wicket’s always a good batting wicket, but what’s important is to bowl in good areas if you want to get some rewards, so today was just that for me,” he added.

Roach had his plan in place as he switched either end to trouble the visiting team batsmen. His wickets of Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan were prime examples of using the angles well as he forced them to play deliveries outside the off-stump.

“I try to use the angles as much as possible. I tried to bring in all three aspects of dismissals into play. Wanted to be as consistent as possible, make a batsman play as much as possible and, obviously play on the mistake,” Roach notes.

It was surprising

Three wickets from Roach’s five came in the same over when he rolled over Mushfiqur Rahim, skipper Shakib and Mahmudullah just in the space of four deliveries, leaving Bangladesh reeling at 18 for 5.  Also, Roach didn’t shy away from admitting that he too was taken aback by the rapid wickets.

“Obviously it felt good. It came pretty rapid,” Roach said. “It was a bit surprising. Obviously to go out there and perform for West Indies is the main goal. To do that today and put West Indies in a good position – I’m happy with that,” he concluded.

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