England bowlers toil as Bonner hits marathon hundred

England bowlers had a tough time in the field (Photo: ESPNcricinfo)

England struggle in the sun

Any criticism of England’s bowlers must come with the caveat that this pitch at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium is slow and has offered minimal support to pace or spin bowlers.

Afterwards, interim coach Paul Collingwood, referencing the surface and England’s effort, called the performance “probably one of the best I have seen in an England shirt”.

But, with the dropped Stuart Broad and James Anderson again notable by their absence, England’s tame attack lacked threat once more in an innings that has now lasted 157 overs.

Stokes bowled admirably, giving England with the wicket of Holder with only four runs added to the overnight score.

But the new ball, taken soon after the start with West Indies five down and still 84 runs behind, came and went with little effect.

Craig Overton often bowled below 80mph and Chris Woakes showed little sign of overturning his poor overseas record, with wicketkeeper Ben Foakes standing up to both at times.

The loss of Wood hurt England badly. He left the field with an elbow issue after one over with the new ball, having only bowled four previously, and is now a doubt to take further part in the Test.

Without their quickest bowler, England struggled to remove West Indies batters who rarely showed aggression. It took a misjudged run and a good throw by substitute fielder Ollie Pope to eventually see off Roach, ending his stand with Bonner.

Left-arm spinner Jack Leach was the most likely wicket-taker, even with little turn to aid him.

Bonner inside edged the Somerset bowler onto his pad when flicking to leg but Crawley could not take the ball when it deflected to him at slip. After passing 100, Bonner twice survived tight lbw decisions on review – Leach the bowler on both occasions.

Bonner may have fallen near the end of the day but has still hurt England’s hopes in the Test significantly. There could be further repercussions given the loss of Wood and the number of overs now in the bowlers’ legs.

Nkrumah Bonner plays the cut shot (Photo: CWI Media)

Bonner digs in

This hundred is right-hander Bonner’s second in 10 Tests, both of which have come on this ground.

He resumed on 34 and, while favouring the leg side, quietly accumulated in composed fashion.

Just 51 runs were scored in 30 overs in the afternoon session, the surface doing little to help run-scoring. That may have been a factor in West Indies’ decision not to up the rate, declare and bowl at England late on.

Bonner, 33, looked to be easing to the close in steady fashion when he was dismissed, somewhat controversially.

The technology showed the tiniest spike when England called for a review after appealing for a leg-side catch.

It did not look definitive, but TV umpire Leslie Reifer deemed it enough to overturn the original decision. (BBC Sport)