WI VS SL - 1st Test, Sri Lanka tour of West Indies, 2021

The scorecard might suggest a dull draw at the end of it all, but this match had a lot -- Holder and Roach's exemplary seam bowling on the first morning, Thirimanne battling it out alone, Lakmal absolutely bowling his heart out over two innings, the new kid on the block, Pathum Nissanka starting his career with a century, and quite fittingly in the end, Bonner going on a blockathon. There's something with 2021 and Tests going into final hours, almost as if it were laughing in the faces of those four-day advocates. So this was me, Vineet Anantharaman, bringing you this in the company of Pradeep Krishnamurthy, Sriram AS and our scorers, Siva and Harish. Until Antigua again, and hopefully a pitch that stays lively for just that little bit longer, ta ta!!

17:19 Local Time, 02:49 IST: Handshakes! Sri Lanka have absolutely nothing left in their tank to churn up, and when the pitch has become so flat, the batsmen so resolute and the bowlers so tired that the entire day produces just three wickets, they've just accepted their fate that the final 45 minutes won't be much different. It's a day that started off promising so much -- all four results in fact, went on to even bring aout a rain scare, but in the end, it will go down in history for Nkrumah Bonner's stonewalling. It was almost like he'd dropped anchor straightaway, batting slower than the always slow Brathwaite. Kyle Mayers gave him good support, batting through the second session. Apart from that one fleeting moment with the second new ball when Sri Lanka got rid of Blackwood and Bonner was getting nervous as he approached his century, handshakes were only a matter of when and never if ..

Embuldeniya to Holder, no run, fired fuller, blocked out. Okay, okay ..

Embuldeniya to Holder, no run, flatter, on off, uses some bat in defence

Embuldeniya to Holder, no run, floaty, outside off, turning away. Holder leans, gives the impression that he's about to drive, but no, leaves

Embuldeniya to Holder, no run, hard hands, flowing through the line and drilling it to extra cover

Embuldeniya to Holder, no run, another forward lunge, lining it up well in defence

Embuldeniya to Holder, no run, steps outside the line and defends it back

Fernando to Bonner, no run, another half-hearted poke, but a lot inside the line now, with the ball jagging away just outside off

Fernando to Bonner, no run, back of a length, outside off, and properly left now

Fernando to Bonner, no run, 127kph, flirts outside off, unnecessarily, with the line not all that close on off in the first place. Anyway, it's what day-five-final-hours make you do

Fernando to Bonner, no run, 125kph, cuts in sharply off a back of a length, skidding on much quiker than Bonner can adjust to, and smashes him on the gloves

Fernando to Bonner, FOUR, short, wide and third man's been kept open. Bonner throws his bat out, top-edges over the slips, and pockets some free runs

Fernando to Bonner, no run, 129kph, back of a length, jagging away, well outside off. Ignored

Vishwa Fernando [18.0-0-69-2] is back into the attack

Well, well, Lakmal's being preserved for a burst later on.

Embuldeniya to Holder, no run, proper beauty! Dipping suddenly in front of the bat and bouncing up extra as well past Holder's block

Embuldeniya to Holder, no run, quite a flashy drive, away from his body, miscuing it away to point

Embuldeniya to Holder, no run, and it's Holder's turn now to lean out, get head-on-ball, and smother

Embuldeniya to Bonner, 1 run, short, allowing Bonner to rock behind and punch it through sweeper