NORTH SOUND, Antigua and Barbuda: A patient, unbeaten maiden Test hundred by Nkrumah Bonner anchored a day of West Indies batting resistance against Sri Lanka as the home side ground through the fifth and final day of the first Test to ensure a draw on Thursday.
In just his third Test, the 32-year-old Bonner further enhanced an already burgeoning reputation as a middle-order batsman with considerably more substance than style.
He compiled a dogged 113 not out in just over seven hours during which he faced 274 balls, stroking 13 fours and one six.
It ensured his team comfortably saved the match at 236 for four, having been set the unlikely target of 375.
After missing out on hundreds in each of his first two Test matches in Bangladesh last month, the Jamaican right-hander was not to be denied third time round on a day when the home side needed his brand of resolute solidity once it was determined that getting 341 more runs on the final day with nine wickets in hand was not a realistic prospect.
“I did some work in the nets with the batting coach (Monty Desai) after the first innings and it paid off,” said Bonner.
“Sri Lanka’s bowlers are very disciplined and it was important for me to also be disciplined and keep the ball in the ‘V’ for as much as possible.”
He featured in a 105-run third-wicket partnership with Kyle Mayers which occupied almost three hours and effectively killed off Sri Lankan hopes of completing an excellent fightback from a poor first day with victory. It ensures both teams will have everything to play for when the second and final Test starts at the same Sir Vivian Richards Stadium venue on Monday.
Sri Lanka will be concerned though about the fitness of first-choice wicketkeeper Niroshan Dickwella who appeared to have either sustained or aggravated a finger injury on more than one occasion during the course of the day, each time requiring prolonged treatment on the field before he continued.
Mayers, who marked his Test debut on that Bangladesh campaign with a sensational, match-winning unbeaten 210 in the first match in Chattogram, curbed his naturally aggressive style admirably in reaching 52 before falling to the left-arm orthodox spin of Lasith Embuldeniya at the start of the final session.
Embuldeniya had claimed Sri Lanka’s lone success of the morning’s play when he removed Kraigg Brathwaite. “I am really pleased with the way we fought back in the second innings,” said Sri Lanka captain Dimuth Karunaratne in reflecting on the entire match. — AFP
scoreboard
Sri Lanka 1st Innings 169
West Indies 1st Innings 271
Sri Lanka 2nd Innings 476
West Indies 2nd Innings
K Brathwaite b Embuldeniya 23
J Campbell c Dickwella b Fernando 11
N Bonner not out 113
K Mayers c Thirimanne b Embuldeniya 52
J Blackwood b Fernando 4
J Holder not out 18
Extras (b4, lb8, nb3) 15
Total (100 overs, 4 wkts) 236
Fall of wickets: 1-12, 2-78, 3-183, 4-204
Bowling: S Lakmal 25-10-33-0, V Fernando 19-0-73-2, L Embuldeniya 28-9-62-2, D Chameera 18-3-44-0, D de Silva 10-5-12-0
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