Nkrumah Bonner scored a maiden Test century and batted all through the fifth day of the primary Test to information West Indies to a draw in opposition to Sri Lanka on the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium. Chasing 375 for victory, West Indies began the final day on at 34/1, and Bonner batted all day to make 113 not out.
He offered a stable anchor, first placing on 66 together with his captain Kraigg Brathwaite (23) for the second wicket, then discovering 105 for the fourth wicket with Kyle Mayers. Near the shut he added 32 with Jason Holder (13 not out) to make sure the draw.
Left-hander Mayers scored 52 with 5 boundaries of 113 balls – which adopted up his first innings 45 – however was out within the first over after tea. Jermaine Blackwood adopted quickly after for simply 4 West Indies slipped to 204/4. However, there was no alarm as Bonner remained stored calm and carried on till the shut of play. He spent eight balls on 99 earlier than going to his maiden century with a cover-driven 4 off Vishwa Fernando. At that time 32-year-old Bonner, taking part in solely his sixth Test innings, had confronted 243 balls and hit 11 fours and a six.
Bonner has been very constant since his Test debut within the historic sequence win in Bangladesh final month. On debut in Chattogram he made 17 and 86 and adopted up with 90 and 38 within the second match in Dhaka. During the primary Test in opposition to Sri Lanka, he made 31 within the first and added Friday’s century. Overall, he has now made 375 runs at a formidable common of 75 per innings.
“It’s truly special for me. This was my childhood dream and I’m really happy to get this monkey off my back. Personally, in the first innings my feet weren’t moving as much as I wanted them to,” mentioned Bonner after receiving the Player-of-the-Match award.
“I did some work in the nets with the batting coach. The Sri Lankan bowlers are very disciplined so it was important for me to construct my innings with discipline,” he mentioned.
The two groups will now put together for the second Test match which begins on Monday on the similar venue.
