Nkrumah Bonner’s century helped the West Indies build a 62 lead over England on day three of the first Test in Antigua; England are also awaiting news on Mark Wood’s fitness after an elbow injury prevented the closer from returning to the pitch after lunch.
Nkrumah Bonner helped the West Indies build a lead on day three against England
A thoughtful 123 from Nkrumah Bonner helped the West Indies establish a 62-run lead as England continued to work hard on the field on day three of the first Test in Antigua.
The West Indies resumed 202-4, but the tourists got the start they wanted when Ben Stokes tempted Jason Holder into hitting Ben Foakes, leading for 45 in the sixth over of the day.
Bonner and Joshua Da Silva went on a half-century unbeaten run to take the hosts to lunch with no more losses at 271-5 with the former recording the second ton of his Test run early in the night session before finally fall. to Dan Lawrence late in the day, with the hosts closing out 373-9.
And as if that wasn’t enough for the tourists, they were left concerned about the fitness of closer Mark Wood after he was forced off the field with an elbow injury, which meant he didn’t return after the break for the lunch.
In contrast to the day before, England’s bowling in the morning session was much more disciplined, taking advantage of the small amount of reverse swing that was offered in the overs before the second fresh ball was available.
That was no more apparent than when Stokes made the breakthrough early when he lured Holder to play in one that was outplayed by Foakes, ending the former West Indies captain’s fifth-wicket position with Bonner at 79.
Along with goalkeeper Da Silva in the crease, though, Bonner dug in and was rewarded for judicious shot selection as he brought out the fourth half-century of his Test career in the 82nd. The fact that he came out 147 balls underscored how patient the 33-year-old had been in the crease.
By this time, England had already taken the new ball, doing so as they had the option. However, despite being able to keep the hosts to a relatively pedestrian scoring rate, they were unable to dislodge any of the batsmen before lunch.
The closest the tourists got was when Craig Overton thought he had caught Da Silva lbw in the 16th, but although the umpire originally signaled, the 23-year-old checked him out immediately and he subsequently survived and the ball was shown to It was on the side of the leg.
The duo then arrived at lunch having gone half a century unbeaten and led the West Indies to within 40 runs of England’s first innings total, despite the hosts having only added 69 runs to the league score. night in the morning session.
That partnership was broken five overs in the afternoon session when left-arm spinner Jack Leach finally got the wicket his efforts deserved, catching Da Silva lbw for 32, and that was quickly followed by new man in Alzarri Joseph ( 2) Hooking Overton to replace outfielder Ollie Pope.
However, the loss of Wood to injury strained England’s bowling resources, and Bonner remained a thorn in their side, eventually lifting his century by sweeping Leach for four in the first over after tea. and retrieve it with a patient 257 balls. .
At the other end, he had been well supported by a stubborn 15-for-89 ball from Kemar Roach, although he was dislodged thanks to a clever play by Pope to quickly return the ball to Foakes for a breakaway after the batsmen tried to run for a easy.
The Jamaican continued to challenge everything England’s bowling attack had to throw at him, perhaps leaving Leach more frustrated when two England reviews on left arm lbw calls against Bonner returned ‘umpire call’ verdicts for the ball. hitting the gates.
Bonner successfully revised a Stokes lbw call that also went against him while at 121, though he only added two more to his highest test total before tickling halftime spinner Lawrence (1-2) to Foakes with 13 remaining balls of the day.
Veerasammy Permaul (26 not out) and the new man in Jayden Seales, who has yet to hit the mark, further frustrated the England bowlers by going into lockdown with a wicket still intact, although the run rate was reduced to only 1.90 for more. as they walked away at the end of the day.
The work of England’s four remaining front-row bowlers in Wood’s absence showed in his figures, with Leach (1-79) bowling a marathon 43-overs so far while also maintaining his economy rate at 1.84. with 20 impressive maidens. .
Chris Woakes (1-88) and Overton (2-85) have both gone over 30 overs, while Stokes (2-42) has bowled 28 – again, however, with a measly economy rate of just 1.50 and seven maidens. .
It remains to be seen, however, whether Wood will be able to return for the later innings and allow England captain Joe Root to share some of the load.
England interim head coach Paul Collingwood speaking to BT Sport
“The attitude on the field in a fairly placid field was exceptional. Taking five wickets for 170 runs in one day on a field like that, I think you have to be very happy. Sometimes people expect you to get teams out quickly, but the surface is quite insensitive. There is no rhythm or spin.
“You have to find ways to build pressure and I think we did that well. We try to get a reverse swing, but when the ball gets soft it can be tough. We’re still in the game.”
“Of course we missed [Mark Wood]. When you have a 90+ mph bowler, you want him in the lanes. Injuries happen in sport and we will have to assess that and see how he recovers. You don’t want to go back out there and make things worse.”
