Roach contributes with bat to help Windies win series against New Zealand

Kingston (Jamaica), Aug 6: Kemar Roach demonstrated the new level of confidence in the West Indies team as he played a fantastic innings to lead the team to victory in the second Test match.

Roach made a Test-best score of 41 off 60 balls as the West Indies sped to 206-5 to win by five wickets in the first session of the fourth day, and spark celebrations at Sabina Park.

It gave the West Indies a clean-sweep of the two-match Digicel Test Series as they showcased their dominance over the Black Caps. Roach added a priceless 70 runs for the fifth wicket with veteran Shiv Chanderpaul, who ended on 43 not out and had the honour of hitting the winning run.

The 24-year-old Roach won the Digicel Man-of-the-Series award – mainly for his bowling – which brought him 12 wickets at an impressive average of 18.25 runs per wicket. He is the joint leading bowler in Test cricket this year with 39 wickets in just seven matches at an average of 22.25 runs.

Roach was beaming after the match as he and team-mates joined fans in celebrations. It has been a weekend of merriment in Jamaica, as they bask in the glory of their athletes at the Summer Olympic Games in London and get ready to commemorate the island’s 50th anniversary of Independence on Monday.

“I’m delighted...we’re all delighted to win. This is a time for celebrations. This is my first Test series win in the Caribbean, so you can understand how pleased I am to be part of a winning set-up,” Roach said.

“We are winning games and the spirit in the dressing room is tremendous. I don’t think I have quite had this much enjoyment since I came into the West Indies team. We will look to go forward from here and win more games,” he said.

The 2-0 series win was the West Indies’ first series victory since they beat Bangladesh 1-0 away from home last October.

The last home series win was against England in 2009 when Chris Gayle’s team won 1-0 to take the prestigious Wisden Trophy. The last series win over New Zealand was at home back in 1996 with Courtney Walsh at the helm.