West Indies v England: Bonner century puts West Indies in driving seat
Nkrumah Bonner dug in for a hard fought yet wonderful century at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua to put the West Indies into a 62 run lead at stumps on the third day of the first Test. Bonner eventually fell for 123.
Image credit: PA Images Nkrumah Bonner was on fine form for the Windies on ThursdayBonner’s marathon effort lasted 355 balls and showed the kind of patience that all teams require for an innings to be built around.
There is something about this ground for Bonner, with this being his second Test century there.
He will be looking to take this form with him wherever he goes, with his approach for this particular match an attempt to grind England into submission.
His nine hour knock has taken it’s toll on the England team who will now undoubtedly be questioning their decision to drop over 1,100 Test wickets in Anderson and Broad. Even more so considering Mark Wood left the field with an elbow injury having bowled only five overs in the day.
Bonner did offer a chance when on 73 as England’s slip catching again let them down. This time it was Zak Crawley shelling the chance from the left arm spin of Jack Leach.
Bonner did have lady luck on his side, with two England reviews for LBW, but the umpire’s call came to his rescue.
And when he was finally given out, his review proved successful.
Another of England’s Achilles Heel’s struck in their inability to remove the tail. When Ben Stokes removed former world number 1 all-rounder Jason Holder for 43, the Windies were looking fragile at 206-5.
Wicket keeper Joshua Da Silva soaked up 88 balls for his 32 and although Alzari Joseph didn’t hang around for long, Kemar Roach stood tall for his 15 from 89 balls and helped Bonner add 44 for the eighth wicket.
The Jamaican was eventually dismissed when Joe Root had almost given up by throwing the ball to Dan Lawrence.
Clearly, it wasn’t going to be straightforward, and so it proved. Bonner was strangled down the leg side but only given out on review, where there was shown to be the faintest of touches.
England will be concerned on the workload of Ben Stokes. He sent down a whopping 28 overs and considering his absence through last year, England will not want to see that happening again.
Day 4 will bring an intriguing passage of play. The West Indies are nine down and England’s fledgling and fragile batting unit will surely be out in the middle before too long.