CHESTER-LE-STREET, England — Pace bowler Kemar Roach has had limited chances at the Cricket World Cup but has been a solid performer when called upon.

On Thursday in the defeat to India at Old Trafford, the 30-year-old was the team’s best bowler, snaring 3-36 from 10 overs as West Indies kept a vaunted batting line-up to a score of 268-7.

It was only the third game at the tournament for the experienced bowler. His first outing was the team’s third — a rained off encounter against South Africa in which he bowled three overs for 10 runs without taking a wicket.

His second was the side’s sixth — a defeat to New Zealand in which he was the West Indies’ most economical bowler with 0-38 from 10.

Against India he was stingy as well as incisive, and bothered India’s batsmen with a tight line, good lengths and noticeable sideways movement. Captain and fellow seamer Jason Holder took 2-33.

“I thought today for me, I was in good rhythm. The ball came out pretty well. And I was very consistent. I was proud of myself, of the figures, obviously picking up a few wickets for the team and being very economical. It was very good,” Roach said during a post-game press conference.

“And Jason bowled well. All the bowlers bowled well. To restrict India for 260 is always going to be good. They’re a quality batting line-up, some world-class players on their team.

“I think playing against them [India], you know, is an eye-opener. Obviously, you’ve got to be on your P’s and Q’s, obviously, and be very sharp. It’s a good test and obviously it’s a good lesson going forward into the rest of the tournament,” the Barbadian bowler continued.

Roach, who has 120 wickets in 88 One-Day International matches at an average of 30.15, supported Holder’s decision to have them both bowl out their respective 10-over quota, leaving others to fill in at the back end as India rattled up 82 in the last 10 overs.

“I trust Jason as a skipper. He has his plans and he has been a pretty good skipper for us the last couple of years. Obviously, I trust him with what he was thinking. So I think me bowling out and him bowling out pretty early, it wasn’t bad,” he told journalists.

“Obviously, you want to get stuck into the India middle order as early as possible. And I think we did that. I think that the guys coming in after that, they just have to understand some aspects. And obviously it was to deliver and execute as well as we can.

“I think we did that pretty well. But kudos to me and Jason and obviously the whole bowling team, but I think it was a pretty decent performance for us,” Roach explained.

— Sanjay Myers