(WICB) Georgetown, Guyana – Today’s win in the First Digicel Test was special for the members of the West Indies team, but especially “sweet” for some of the younger players who were tasting victory in a Test the first time.
It was the first Test match for leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo and he celebrated the 40-run win over Pakistan with his mother, who was on hand to see the fourth day’s play at the Guyana National Stadium.
“This is a feeling I can’t explain. I can’t find the words to describe how I feel right now. Before today, the West Indies had not won a Test match for over two years, and to come in my first match, in front my home crowd, with mum in the stands watching, is truly special,” the 25-year-old said.
Bishoo played well in the match and was a candidate for the Man-of-the-Match award. He took four wickets in the first innings and also batted resolutely on a difficult pitch. The award eventually went to skipper Darren Sammy, who took seven wickets for 45 runs from 29 overs in the match.
“This is a great start to my career. I could not have asked for better. From here I have to kick on and continue to get better and do better for West Indies cricket,” Bishoo added.
Fast bowler Ravi Rampaul was superb throughout the match and ended with seven wickets – 3-27 in the first innings followed up with a career-best 4-48 in the second innings on Sunday. For him the win was a major boost to his career. The 26-year-old who played his sixth Test paid tribute to everyone who supported him.
“I want to thank all the members of the team for believing in me. I want to say thanks the people who supported me, and all the fans who backed me. For a while in a career I was the water boy and things weren’t happening for me, but this result goes to show what can happen when you have faith in yourself and when those around you give you the support. Every ball I bowled out there I received support from everyone on the field and I was able to feed off that. This is truly a great result for the West Indies team and overall West Indies cricket.”
Another player celebrating his first Test win was opener Lendl Simmons, who played his fourth Test match. He made a career-best 49 in the first innings – the second highest score in the match.
“This is a great feeling. It was a total team performances and I want to take my hat off to everyone who played so well to help us pull off this remarkable result. I played a few Test matches before and we never won, so to taste victory today on home soil feels so special. As a player and as a team, we will be looking for more success. We will move on to St Kitts full of confidence and look to make it back-to-back wins.”
