Bonner scores maiden century to guide West Indies safely to draw

Nkrumah Bonner recorded his maiden Test century as he safely guided the West Indies through the fifth and final day of the Test match against Sri Lanka.

Playing yesterday in Antigua, Bonner finished the day undefeated on 113 runs as the match finished in a draw with the West Indies on 236/4 in their second innings chasing a target of 375 for victory.

Sri Lanka had scored 169 in their first innings, but responded in the second innings with an impressive 476 total. This meant that the West Indies, who scored 271 in the first innings, was now left with the decision if to chase the mammoth four innings target or play for a draw.

The day started with West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite and Bonner sharing in a 66-run second-wicket partnership before Brathwaite was beaten by a ball as he advanced down the pitch.

However, Kyle Mayers and Bonner came together and made the visitors toil even harder in the field with no rewards. Once again the post-lunch session did not yield any wickets and this time it was the West Indies who kept the Sri Lankan bowlers at bay.

Mayers and Bonner shared in a 105-run third-wicket partnership off 218 balls, turning back all of the visitors’ attempts to get a wicket and make inroads.

But immediately after the Tea interval, Mayers, who had reached 52, flashed as a ball outside his off stump and it was edged to first slip. Mayers scored 45 runs in the first innings to finish the match with a solid performance with the bat.

Jermaine Blackwood, who only scored 2 in the first innings, continued his batting woes as he was bowled once again this time for 4 runs.

All this happened before Bonner could reach his century milestone.

But with the former captain Jason Holder joining Bonner in the middle, Bonner, who was playing in his third Test match, safely stroked the ball in the offside to reach his century.

It was an overpitched delivery from Vishwa Fernando which Bonner cracked to the boundary for four, when he had been on 99 for a number of overs.

This added to his 31 runs in the first innings and also earned him the Player of the Match.

Only three wickets fell on the fifth day of the match, showing a solid performance from the West Indies middle order on a tame pitch.

After the match, Bonner said that it was a truly special moment for him as it had been a childhood dream.

He had been dismissed a few times when he was close to reaching the milestone and he was also happy that he “got this monkey off my back”.

He acknowledged where he went wrong in the first innings when he was dismissed and stayed disciplined in the second innings as he mentioned the Sri Lankan bowlers were also very disciplined.

West Indies captain Brathwaite said he was happy with the draw after a tough time in the field on the fourth day.

Brathwaite said that his strike bowler, Kemar Roach, kept a positive attitude and led the way with the breakthrough after Tea. Roach, along with Holder, received praise for their disciplined bowling.

Though he was hoping for a win, he was happy with a draw as he highlighted that one can’t always get wins.

For the next Test match, Brathwaite said they will go back to the drawing board and look at a few things they could have done differently. (CG)