WATCH: Resilient Roach Joins Elite Club To Steer Windies To Test Success
Kemar Roach (30no) hit the winning run as the West Indies edged a thrilling 1st Test one-wicket triumph over Pakistan at Kingston’s Sabina Park on Sunday (15 August).
The veteran Barbados paceman, who was so durable for a fascinating 40 minutes at the crease in a 17-run final wicket stand with Trinidadian Jayden Seales (2no), bagged his 1,000th Test run in the process of securing victory.
The 33-year-old’s face beamed with sheer delight at the victory, and he continued smiling as he had just joined an elite club from the Windies to make 1,000 runs and capture over 200 wickets.
However, the absorbing contest was not a clear-cut result despite the hosts only being set a target of 168 for victory after Pakistan’s final five wickets fell for 31 runs earlier in the day.
Wickets tumbled for the Windies, who stuttered into lunch at 38-3 with Shaheen Afridi (4-50) dismissing captain Kraigg Brathwaite, Nevisian Kieran Powell and Jamaica’s Nkrumah Bonner each for single figures.
But it was Jamaica’s Jermaine Blackwood (55) who rebuilt the team’s confidence with his innings, which included 10 boundaries, after lunch alongside Barbadian all rounder Royston Chase (22) with their fourth-wicket stand of 68.
Once Blackwood had gone, caught at second slip by Imran Butt off Hassan Ali (3-37), it looked like a lost cause for the Windies as the battling tourists continued to rip through the batting line-up with aplomb.
The Windies were tentatively placed at 114-7 after former skipper Jason Holder was clean bowled by Hassan in the last over before the tea interval.
Left-arm fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi (4-50) then had Joshua Da Silva (14) caught behind by Mohammad Rizwan, which halted the 28-run stand with Roach to leave the Windies in trouble.
Rizwan chased Jomel Warrican’s hook off Hassan to claim a memorable catch at fine leg to leave the result on a knife-edge at 151-9. But Roach showed his mettle alongside over relative newcomer Seales with a composed display at the crease to earn the Windies a breathtaking triumph.
Roach led throughout the four days by example with both bat and ball. He seems to be a terrific role model for man of the match Seales, who only made his international debut in June.
Seales followed up his 3-70 figures in the 1st innings that left Pakistan perplexed at 217 all out by notching 5-55 to send the tourists packing at 203 all out. The fearless teenager became the youngest ever West Indian to claim five Test wickets, haul in Tests, at 19 years and 339 days to smash the 71-year-old record set by Jamaica’s slow left-arm bowler Alf Valentine.
The West Indies will return to Sabina Park on Friday for the 2nd Test arguably brimming with confidence, with a handful of players no doubt determined to shine as well as the buoyant heroes Seales and Roach.
West Indies v Pakistan Test Series
1st Test | August 12-15 (Sabina Park, Jamaica)
WI beat Pakistan by 1 wicket
WI 253 all out & 168-9.
Pakistan 217 all out & 203 all out.
2nd Test | August 20-25 (Sabina Park, Jamaica)
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