ICC Champions Trophy: Confidence boost helped Roach rock Pakistan

London -  Pacer Kemar Roach says a boost in confidence helped him to rip through the early Pakistan batting as the West Indies launched their ICC Champions Trophy in triumphant fashion.

The Windies new ball bowler took three for 28 off his 10 overs and was named man of the match as Pakistan lost by two wickets yesterday. Roach produced one his best bowling efforts in limited-overs cricket and then returned to hit the winning runs.

“I was a little low on confidence coming into the match as I wasn’t at my best in the last warm-up match against Sri Lanka but I bounced back quickly,” he said after accepting his Man-of-the-Match award from Sir Trevor McDonald.

“I got a huge backing and vote of confidence from the others in the dressing room and that helped to lift me in a big way.”

He started with the wicket of Imran Farhat caught by Dwayne Bravo at second slip and then sent back Mohammed Hafeez, bowled by an inswinger which rattled the middle stump. Roach later had Asad Shafiq caught by Ravi Rampaul on the third man boundary as he tried to cut a short ball.

“I wanted to pitch the ball up and let the ball do the work. Pakistan are a tough side to play against and it was quite a challenge,” he said. “My rhythm was on today and I felt good running in”.

Roach received good support from Sunil Narine who also took three wickets in 10 overs. The off-spinner, who recently rose to Number one in the ICC ODI bowling rankings ended with three for 34, including his 50th wicket in his 29th match. “We now look ahead to what is to come,” said Roach. “The next match is against India and we know they have a strong batting line-up so we will regroup and look at our plans to get the better of them as well.” The West Indies play India at the Oval on Tuesday.