ON a day dominated by New Zealand, West Indies pacer Kemar Roach celebrated a significant milestone when he captured his 100th Test wicket on the fourth day of the third cricket Test yesterday.
Playing in his 26th match, in front of a modest home crowd, Roach reached the landmark on the eve of his 26th birthday when New Zealand wicket keeper/batsman B.J. Watling cut a delivery to Jason Holder at point to end a troublesome seventh wicket partnership of 79 with Kane Williamson, who hit his seventh career Test century.
“[It’s] definitely a big thing for me. That was always my goal. I wanted to get there in 20 but 26 is even as good so I am glad to achieve that,” Roach said after play was abandoned for the day following a second rain interruption.
“I’ll look for 150 and then 200,” he added.
Roach was especially pleased to have secured wicket number 100 at Kensington and admitted it meant a lot to him.
“Obviously you want to perform at home for sure so to be able to do that at home in front all the fans is great, so I am thankful for that,” he said.
With 15 wickets under his belt in the series, the most by any bowler, Roach was not afraid to admit the challenges faced in bowling on the Kensington pitch in this match but expressed satisfaction with his personal progress on coming back from injury.
“Yeah it’s been tough. The wicket is still flat. It’s pretty hard to bowl on. Once you hit your areas, hopefully the batsmen will make some mistakes and you get some wickets. I am proud of the way I came back after my surgery. I put some work in and it’s showing, so 15 wickets in the series so far is pretty good for me,” he said.
Roach was full of praise for Williamson, who hit his second century of the series to lift New Zealand from a tricky second innings position of 68 for three, but despite the loss of time to the weather and the resolute New Zealand batting he is still optimistic of a West Indies win to seal the series.
“He [Williamson] is obviously their best batsman in the team so we plan for him but he has been in good form. He is definitely hard to bowl at,” said Roach.
“Getting his wicket is always a good feeling so hopefully tomorrow morning [today] we’ll come out there fresh and knock them over.
“The batting we have are some positive guys so we’ll go out there and give it our best shot. If we get close to the runs we’ll go for them. I hope the guys go out there and give it their best and win the game for West Indies,” Roach said.
