Twitter Reactions: Nkrumah Bonner's century grinds England on an attritional day of Test cricket

90.1 overs, 171 runs, 5 wickets – These are the numbers from the third day’s play in the ongoing first Test between England and West Indies. At the end of it, the hosts were on top with a lead of 62 runs in the first innings with one wicket in hand. Nkrumah Bonner was the star for them playing with a lot of patience weathering the English attack sans Mark Wood.

The day began with West Indies at 201/4, still 110 runs adrift of England’s first innings total. The visitors started off well nipping out Jason Holder early. The all-rounder couldn’t add much to his overnight tally before edging one of the deliveries from Ben Stokes the wicketkeeper Ben Foakes. This followed a stubborn stand between Bonner and Joshua Da Silva.

The duo didn’t show any urgency to score runs and were happy blocking and at times, punishing rare poor deliveries that were on offer. They added 73 runs for the sixth wicket taking the home side close to the opposition’s total. However, England hit back with Jack Leach pinning Da Silva in front of the stumps thanks to his tight lines while Craig Overton dismissed Alzarri Joseph.

At 282/7, England might have hoped to earn a slender lead but Bonner and Kemar Roach had other ideas. The former didn’t deter with the fall of wickets at the other end and kept batting without much fuss. Joe Root and his men also suffered from the fact that Mark Wood got injured and is unlikely to bowl at least in the first innings.

Bonner reaches his second Test ton

Meanwhile, Bonner continued to show his class batting with a lot of patience, which is rare in modern day cricket. He reached his second Test ton as well adding 44 runs for 8th wicket with Roach and taking West Indies into the lead. However, even Roach’s wicket didn’t bring respite to England with West Indies tail not giving away their wickets easily.

Veerasammy Permaul decided to dig in as well while Bonner continued to bat in the same fashion. One could argue that the batter could’ve attacked a little bit more to stretch the lead. But Permaul’s assurance at the other end might have given him the confidence as their 46-run stand in 27 overs completely frustrated England.

In the end, it was the part-time bowling of Daniel Lawrence that ended Bonner’s nine-hour vigil in the middle. He scored 123 runs off 355 deliveries with 12 fours and one six. West Indies ended the day with a 62-run lead at 373/9 and they will be looking to add as many runs as possible on the fourth morning. With the pitch expected to deteriorate further, any lead could turn out to be crucial for both sides.

Here’s how Twitter reacted: