WI vs Eng: Bonner, Holder blunt visitors attack as first Test ends in draw

St John’s [Antigua], March 13 (ANI): West Indies safely batted out the final day as the first Test against England ended in a draw at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua.
A rapid start to the day saw England add 132 in the morning session, with Joe Root reaching his 24th Test century along the way.
And an aggressive declaration meant that West Indies had a little over two sessions to survive, with a target of 286 realistically out of reach.
Jack Leach took three wickets as England pushed hard on a flat pitch throughout the remainder of the day, but a strong fifth-wicket partnership between Nkrumah Bonner and Jason Holder removed the threat of a loss as the match ended in a draw.
In a tense final session, Bonner and Holder snitched an 80-run partnership that spanned 34.4 resolute overs.
With just five of the day’s allocated deliveries remaining, Root opted to shake hands with West Indies marooned at 147/4, leaving the series all-square after the first Test.
Leach finished with figures of 3/57 from 30.1 overs, with Holder unbeaten on 37 from 101 deliveries and Bonner not out on 38 from 138 balls.
The teams will travel to Barbados for the second Test, which starts at the Kensington Oval on Wednesday.
Brief Scores: West Indies 375 (Bonner 123, Brathwaite 55) and 147/4 (Bonner 38*, Holder 37*) drew with England 311 (Bairstow 140, Seales 4-79) and 349/6 dec (Crawley 121, Root 109) (ANI)