CAVE HILL, Barbados (CMC) – A half-century from Nkrumah Bonner typified defiant batting from the Combined Campuses & Colleges, which earned them a draw with the England Lions in the WICB Regional first-class championship yesterday. Bonner completed a fine all-round day, when he batted for 112 minutes, faced 91 balls, and struck 10 boundaries in the top score of 72 to help the CCC reach 204 for seven in their second innings, after they were set 302 for victory on the final day of their fourth round match at the Three Ws Oval.
Bonner and compatriot Shacoya Thomas added 99 for the sixth wicket to make things safe for the CCC before the match drew to a tame conclusion.
The result meant that the Lions earned six points and move to 30, and the CCC collect three points, to take them to 27.
Bonner, bowling his leg-spin, had ended with four wickets for 27 runs from five overs, when the Lions declared their second innings on 256 for seven about 35 minutes before lunch.
Craig Kieswetter finished with the top score of 103 for the Lions, Jimmy Adams hit 72, and Adam Gale made 48, but the rest of the batting literally gave their wickets away, as the visitors chased quick runs to hasten the declaration.
Left-arm spinner Kavesh Kantasingh benefited from their careless batting, grabbing three for 79 from 24 overs.
CCC reached five without loss at lunch, but the drama started to unfold after the interval, when their captain Omar Phillips was lbw on the backfoot to James Harris for two, and Kyle Corbin suffered a similar fate and departed for a duck, for nought to leave the home team 17 for two.
Left-hander Kjorn Ottley started to turn the tide, but he was caught at extra-cover for 14 off Maurice Chambers before Woakes tightened the Lions’ grip, when he had Romel Currency caught at mid-off for 34, and then trapped Raymon Reifer lbw for 26, as the CCC reached 84 for five at tea.
After the break, Thomas and Bonner spent over an hour resisting the Lions’ attack, mixing sound defence with enterprise.
Thomas was lbw to Chambers for 22, and Bonner followed three overs later caught at slip off Nathan Briggs in the final hour to enliven the closing stages.
But Kevin McClean joined Carlos Brathwaite, and they negotiated the closing overs to deny the Lions their second victory of the season.
Chambers took two for 21 off 11 overs, Harris two for 29 off 15 overs, and Woakes two for 42 off 16 overs.
Earlier, England Lions, starting the day on 168 without loss, lost Craig Kieswetter in the first over, stumped Kantasingh for 103. He batted for 157 minutes, faced 119 balls and struck ten fours.
But wickets continued to tumble at regular interval for the CCC, with Adams, later named Man-of-the-Match, caught at slip off Kantasingh, following a 183-minute stay that yielded four fours from 140 balls.
Gale continued to farm the bowling, but none of his other teammates passed 10 before he was caught at deep midwicket off Reifer.
The Championship takes a break next weekend but resumes on March 11 when the Lions travel to face Guyana at the Guyana National Stadium, and the CCC will also travel to Jamaica to meet the three-time defending champions at Chedwin Park.