Bonner was one of the few batsmen to provide any resistance against the spin onslaught from the hosts.
He compiled an unbeaten 68 in the second innings in which the Windies were bowled out for 160 to lose the game by 187 runs.
Speaking in his post-match press conference, the Jamaican top-order batsman said the Caribbean side will need to get together and devise a plan to counter the Sri Lankan spinners.
“Moving forward, we have to come up with small tactics for when we’re playing the off-spinners or the left-arm spinners. That’s something we’re going to sit down as a team and look at,” said Bonner.
The Windies problems against spin are mental rather than physical, according to Bonner.
“It’s mental for us. Everybody has the ability to play spin but we need to be clear on how we want to play against them. Obviously, the Sri Lankan spinners got the better of us in this match. We’re trying to work on that in training to try to give a better showing in the next match,” he said
Bonner also spoke about how the Windies can improve their approach to playing spin, given the fact that it is the biggest threat in sub-continent conditions.
“We have to be more precise with our footwork, whether we’re going to come forward or go back. There are some small things we want to work on if we want to be more assured when we’re defending and when we’re attacking,” he said.
The second test match begins Sunday at 11:30 pm local time.
England’s unbeaten pair of captain Joe Root (84) and Zak Crawley (117) started the day attempting to add on to England’s overnight 217-1 and eventually got to 225 before Crawley became the first scalp of the day, falling to Holder for 121.
Root carried on and brought up his 24th Test match hundred, the second-most by an Englishman only behind former skipper Alastair Cook’s 33.
Dan Lawrence, who joined Root after Crawley’s dismissal, made a breezy 37 before he was removed by Alzarri Joseph to leave England 295-3 off 78.3 overs.
With a declaration looming, England’s batsmen tried to step up their scoring rate but kept losing wickets quickly, including Root for 109 and Ben Stokes for 13.
Joseph finished with 3-78 off 23.2 overs while Kemar Roach picked up 2-53 off 19 overs.
They eventually declared on 349-6, leaving the West Indies needing 286 for victory.
The West Indies started their pursuit just before lunch, eventually reaching 4-0 at the break.
After lunch, Captain Kraigg Brathwaite and John Campbell continued their fruitful partnership at the top of the order with a second 50 partnership of the match.
They got to 59-0 before Brathwaite was trapped in front by Stokes for 33. Campbell was then dismissed in the next over by Jack Leach for 22 to leave the hosts in a spot of bother at 59-2.
Shamarh Brooks (5) and Jermaine Blackwood (2) then quickly became Leach’s next two victims to leave the West Indies struggling at 67-4 in the 35th over.
Thankfully for the West Indies, Bonner (38) and Holder (37) safely negotiated the final 36.3 overs to lead the West Indies to 147-4 off 70.1 overs.
Jack Leach was the pick of the England bowlers with 3-57 off 30.1 overs.
Final Scores: England 311 and 349-6 declared, West Indies 375 and 147-4.
The second test gets underway on March 16th in Barbados.
The West Indies lost three wickets for 29 runs after lunch before the Jamaican middle-order batsman got involved in two partnerships that rescued the visitors from a greater implosion.
After winning the toss and choosing to bat, opening pair of Kraigg Brathwaite and John Campbell put on an opening stand of 66 when Campbell got out lbw after missing a fullish delivery from Taijul Islam that he tried to sweep.
The West Indies went to lunch at 84 for 1 with Brathwaite on 36 and Shayne Moseley on six.
On the resumption, the West Indies had added three runs to their lunch-time score when Moseley was bowled by Abu Jayad for seven.
Eight overs later after the visitors had crept to 104, the West Indies captain fell three runs short of another Test 50 when he edged a Soumya Sarkar delivery and was caught at slip by Najmul Hossain Shanto for 47.
First Test hero, Kyle Mayers was next to go when he edged Jayad to Sharkar at slip and was out for five leaving the West Indies in a spot of bother at 116 for 4.
Bonner, who has so far faced 173 deliveries, and Jermaine Blackwood repaired some of the damage with a partnership of 62. However, Blackwood was dismissed for 28 when he was too early on a shot from a delivery from Taijul, who dived to his right to take the return catch.
Bonner and Da Silva, who is not out on 22, managed to add 45 for the sixth wicket without further loss by the close of play.
Jayad has so far taken 2 for 46 while Taijul has taken 2 for 64.
The Windies are set to face England in three Tests behind closed doors, the first beginning at the Ageas Bowl on July 8 before two matches at Old Trafford.
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, which brought professional cricket grinding to a halt in March, West Indies are using Old Trafford for training and quarantining.
However, head coach Simmons is not concerned about his side keeping entertained, believing the hunger to play cricket again will help combat any feelings of boredom.
Speaking on a conference call on Saturday, Simmons said: "There's always dominoes - as you can imagine if you've been to the Caribbean that is a highly explosive form of entertainment.
"We have a golf simulation centre, we have cards, a few things the guys are enjoying. When you have characters like Jason Holder everyone is always laughing and enjoying themselves.
"The biggest challenge is boredom, but saying that in this scenario - because of doing nothing, no cricket being played for the last however many months - that will take a while to come into play.
"The guys are hungry, they want to play and practice."
Not since a 4-0 win in 1988 have the Windies won a Test series in England, but the current crop have not had to look far for inspiration, with Gordon Greenidge's double-hundred at Lord's in 1984 recently broadcast on British television.
"I saw the Test at Lord's where Gordon scored a double [hundred] on the last day," Simmons added.
"I'm not too sure how close some of the younger players are [to the past] but we're trying to bring that back, get younger guys to understand where we've come from in terms of being top of the world for such a long time.
"Sometimes when you know the whole West Indies saga is coming from, it gives you more impetus to be pushing forward to get the team back on top."
The Windies are booked to face New Zealand in a three-match T20 international series, which will run between the 27th to 30th of this month.
Both Boult and Williamson had several strong performances in the recent Indian Premier League (IPL) season, but the Blackcaps have prioritised the Test series. New Zealand are eyeing a spot in the World Test Championship final at Lord's next year. They are currently fourth in the standings and need to beat West Indies in the two-Test series in December to stake their claim.
"We've had to make a decision on Kane and Trent to prioritise the test matches, given how important they are to our red-ball team and the fact they both played such big roles in the recent IPL while also managing injuries," New Zealand coach Gary Stead said after announcing the squads.
"There's no secret we're right in the hunt for the World Test Championship final following our two-nil win over India and having Trent and Kane fully fit and focussed for the upcoming series will be crucial."
On a grassy surface that offered bounce and pace to fast bowlers, South Africa bowled the West Indies out for scores of 97 and 162 while securing victory by an innings and 63 runs inside three days. South Africa made 322 in their only turn at-bat.
However, according to Roach, who took 2-64 from the 20 overs he bowled, said pitches like the one they played on will ultimately benefit the players in the region.
“I think the pitches benefit us in the long run, especially when we go on tours to South Africa and Australia where the bounce is a lot more,” Roach said.
“We wouldn’t be unfamiliar when we go to these countries. I think it’s good to have a pitch like this in the Caribbean we can prepare ourselves for these overseas tours.”
The bowler, who is a few days shy of his 33rd birthday, had a successful stint in May with Surrey in the English County Championship where he took 22 wickets at an average of 20.54. Among the 22 wickets were nine that he took in his final match against Middlesex.
He said the pitches he played on were different in nature to the one in St Lucia.
“Pitches don’t bounce much in England. There is a lot of movement because of the atmosphere and the amount of grass they put on the pitch,” he said, adding that he believes he and his teammates will need to adjust their game to suit the surface.
“The pitch in St Lucia bounced a lot more than I have seen in a while. It reminds me of a wicket in Australia or probably South Africa, so it’s about us adapting. It’s about taking on the challenge and trying to be as positive as we can.”
The West Indies will see how much they have adjusted to the St Lucia pitch when the second Betway Test begins on Friday.
It was tough going on day one of the first tour match, for a Windies bowling unit that included top strike bowlers Kemar Roach, Shannon Gabriel, and Alzarri Joseph. Of the trio, Joseph was the only one to take a wicket in the first innings as New Zealand A put on 308 for 3 before declaring. Gabriel did claim a wicket in the second innings of the drawn match.
The coach, however, believes the consistent threat of the bowling unit over the past several years speaks for itself and remained more concerned about the team's batting, which has been far less assured during the same time period.
“Over the years we have seen that the bowling has been our strength,” Simmons told members of the media from New Zealand on Tuesday.
“If in these two matches, the one that’s gone and the one tomorrow, the batsmen can get into form and get into the line that we want them to, I’m not worried about the bowlers. The bowlers are always up to the task in the Test matches for a few years now,” he added.
Led by a century from returning batsman Darren Bravo the West Indies did put in a solid performance with the bat after scoring 366 in their first innings.
The hosts were restricted to 214 all out off 42.4 overs after winning the toss and batting first.
Scott Edwards (68), Max O’Dowd (51) and Vikramjit Singh (46) were the main run getters as Hosein ripped through the Dutch batting line-up with 4-39 off his 10 overs. Alzarri Joseph provided good support with 2-30 from eight overs.
In their chase, the West Indies found themselves in trouble at 99-5 after 23.2 overs before a match-winning and unbroken 118-run partnership between Brandon King and Keacy Carty steered the visitors to a comfortable victory.
The tourists ended up 217-5 with King getting a classy 90-ball 91 that included nine fours and three sixes. Carty was unbeaten on 43 not out off 66 balls. He hit two fours and a massive six that brought an end to the match.
Bas De Leede was the best Dutch bowler on the day with 2-46 from eight overs.
The third and final ODI will be played on Saturday.
It was not an easy win for the Caribbean men who would have suffered jitters when medium pacer Junaid Siddique took career-best figures of 5-13 to restrict West Indies to 152-9 from their 20 overs.
The West Indies owed their eventual match-winning score to a 95-run fourth wicket partnership between King and Captain Nicholas Pooran that spared the Caribbean men blushes after UAE won the toss and decided to bowl.
It seemed the right decision as the West Indies were struggling at 22-3 inside the Powerplay.
The dismissal of Evin Lewis (2), Johnson Charles (1) and Sharmarh Brooks (4) brought King and Pooran together in the fifth over and together they dragged the West Indies into a position of relative strength.
The West Indies captain hit five fours in his 31-ball 46 before he was bowled by Zahoor Khan, who had earlier dismissed Brooks. It was then 117-4 in the 15th over.
The loss of Pooran’s wicket saw the West Indies slip to 122-7 as Siddique, who had earlier removed Charles, scythed through the middle order with three wickets in four balls claiming Reifer for one, King for 64 and Akeal Hosein without scoring.
King's runs came from 45 balls and included seven fours and two sixes.
Siddique picked up his fifth wicket in the 18th over when he bowled Odean Smith for five.
Alzarri Joseph helped the West Indies past 150 with 15 well-needed runs from 11 balls before being the last man out, leaving Rovman Powell unbeaten on seven and Obed McCoy on four at the end.
Khan ended with 2-24.
Needing 153 for victory, UAE were 19-1 at the end of three when McCoy dismissed Chirag Suri for nine.
Muhammad Waseem and Vriityia Avarind took the score to 50 in the eighth when Reifer dismissed the latter for nine and CP Rizwan for one in the space of four balls as UAE slipped to 52-3 in the ninth.
The UAE ran into further trouble three balls later when Evin Lewis ran out Aayan Afzal Khan for a duck.
Waseem and Basil Hameed inched the score along to 66 by the 13th over when Reifer claimed his third after dismissing Hameed for five. It was soon 82 for 6 in the 16th when Odean Smith dismissed Kashif Daud for seven.
With nothing to lose UAE went for broke smashing 53 from the final 26 balls.
Waseem brought up his 50 with a six from the last ball of the 17th over bowled by McCoy that yielded 16 runs. The pair also took 15 from the 19th bowled by Alzarri Joseph, whose last ball was smashed for six by Zawar Farid, who ended unbeaten on 29 from the 14 balls he faced.
Waseem’s heroic unbeaten 69 came from 52 balls and included four fours and three sixes as UAE closed on 135-6.
Reifer took 3-13 while Odean Smith had figures of 1-20 from his four overs. McCoy gave up 49 runs from his four overs.
Brathwaite and Shamarh Brooks headed out in the first session with the Windies on 71-1, but the latter fell on 39 inside the opening 30 minutes of the day when he sliced Jack Leach's delivery to Chris Woakes.
Ben Stokes struck shortly after coming into England's attack midway through the session, dismissing Nkrumah Bonner for nine lbw, as the tourists look set to enjoy another fine day after declaring on 509-7 on Thursday.
Stokes should have had Blackwood lbw, only for the umpire to decline their appeals, with Joe Root choosing not to review.
That was swiftly proved a mistake, with the replay showing the ball would have hit halfway up leg stump, Blackwood then surviving an lbw review for what could have been Saqib Mahmood's first Test wicket.
Braithwaite and Blackwood made the most of their fortune, frustrating England throughout the second session to reach tea at 196-3, on 79 and 50 respectively.
Windies skipper Brathwaite nudged Leach for two to bring up his century from 278 balls, and his control remained as he allowed Blackwood to stake centre stage.
Blackwood picked off some sloppy Stokes deliveries, though he very nearly edged Leach to Dan Lawrence before he clipped England's spinner for a single to bring up his third Test ton.
His stand finally came to an end on 102, when Lawrence trapped him lbw but, despite a late review against Alzarri Joseph, West Indies held on to reach stumps on 288-4.
Brilliant Braithwaite leads by example
Braithwaite was quite simply sensational, with his 109 not out coming from 337 deliveries so far, and he will be there again at the start of day four.
He now has 10 Test centuries, with three of those having come against England.
A long day for England's bowlers
News of Mark Wood's tour-ending injury came at the start of the day and it was a difficult time for England's bowlers.
Leach has already bowled 44 overs, but has just one wicket to show for it, while Stokes has an economical 1-34 to show for his efforts, though it took a cameo from Lawrence (1-8) to make the late breakthrough.
Resuming from their overnight score of 221-0 with Brathwaite on 116 and Chanderpaul on 101, the pair took their opening partnership to 336 before Brathwaite was trapped leg before wicket to Wellington Masakadza for 182. The score broke the record for the best-ever West Indies opening partnership of 298 by the West Indies iconic opening pair of Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes that was made against England in 1990.
They also became the first opening pair to bat in excess of 100 overs in an innings in the 21st century only the second opening pair to face over 600 deliveries in a Test innings, falling just short of the record held by Sri Lanka’s Marvan Atapattu and Sanath Jayasuriya, who had played 114.2 overs against Pakistan.
It is also the ninth-highest opening partnership in Test cricket history and the first time that both West Indies openers have gone past 150 in the same innings.
Brathwaite’s marathon knock lasted 312 balls and included 18 fours.
In a bid to accelerate the scoring rate, Kyle Mayers, who replaced Brathwaite scored 20 from 24 balls in a partnership of 37 with Chanderpaul before was bowled by Brandon Mavuta with the score at 373.
Dropped at deep backward square leg on 150, Chanderpaul remains unbeaten on 161 with Raymon Reifer on one at the other end.
Masakadza has so far taken 1-53 from 22 overs while Mavuda has figures of 1-99 from the 32 overs he has bowled so far.
After finally dislodging the determined Jonny Bairstow and bowling England out for 311 on day two, the Windies risked wasting a strong start to their first innings.
Brathwaite (55) and John Campbell (35) put on 83 for the first wicket but the Windies subsequently slumped to 127-4 as England made belated inroads.
Yet the tourists' attack was frustrated by Holder and Nkrumah Bonner, who reached stumps after a final session truncated by rain having put on an unbroken stand of 75 to push the Windies to 202-4, a deficit of 109 runs.
England added 43 runs to their overnight score, their feat of surpassing 300 one that has all been too rarely achieved by Joe Root's team in recent times.
Frequently frustrated as England's day-one resistance stiffened, fast bowler Jayden Seales ended Bairstow's partnership with Chris Woakes (28) at 71, and it was he and Alzarri Joseph who polished off the tail, the latter dismissing Bairstow for 140 to bring the innings to a close.
Brathwaite quickly set about laying the foundation for a strong Windies reply, his 50 coming off just 62 balls before he chased a wide one from Mark Wood and was caught at gully by Craig Overton, who earlier had Campbell caught behind.
Shamarh Brooks (18) and Jermaine Blackwood (11) each went cheaply, however, Bonner and the ex-captain left England searching for answers when stumps were forced to be called by the inclement weather, the defiant all-rounder Holder seven runs shy of a 12th Test half-century.
England back in 300 club
Thanks to Bairstow's outstanding performance, England got to 300 for the first time since their win over India at Headingley in August last year. It is a drought Root and Co. will be eager to put behind them by producing more assured performances with the bat in 2022.
Holder in ominous form
Two of Holder's three Test centuries have come against England. His ability to convert a start in this contest into another hundred may play a large role in deciding who prevails in Antigua.
Brathwaite was speaking about Archer’s decision to visit his home in between the first and second Test in the #raisethebat Series against the West Indies.
Archer’s decision saw him miss the second Test which is headed to day four after Saturday was rained out.
The England pacer was fined by the English Cricket Board on Saturday but can play in the third Test if he tests negative for COVID-19.
“For me, as a personal friend, I'm disappointed, not only in what Jofra's done but the scrutiny you get from the media,” said Brathwaite.
According to Brathwaite, Archer has not done any favours to his image, though he believes the paceman is generally misunderstood.
“There has been talk before about his attitude and his laissez-faire way of going about things, which often discredits what he does on the field,” said Brathwaite.
“I just want to see his cricket do the talking, more than the concerns - which I think are misplaced - about his character. His tweeting, his social media, his quirky posts: that is Jofra Archer,” said Brathwaite.
Still, Brathwaite believes that there needs to be less pressure on athletes to be perfect and it must be remembered they are humans.
“As a cricketer myself, there are things outside of cricket that people would not agree with. People look to cricketers to set examples in life.
“He's not there for your son or daughter to look up to. He's there to live his life and do what he does best,” said Brathwaite.
The all-rounder wants it to be understood though, that even though he believes sportsmen get too much of a hard time, Archer still needs to be more responsible.
“That said, it does not excuse what he does. It's disappointing for me, as a personal friend, the backlash he will get.”
The opening batsman crafted a resilient 94 from 268 balls, a resilient 400 minutes that went a long way towards anchoring the team’s total of 265 and a first-innings lead.
Just short of a deserved 11th Test century, the batsman was, however, deceived by Khaled Ahmed and sent back to the pavilion just four short of the coveted total.
“Obviously, I was a little disappointed but I’m happy that the team has formed a lead and it will be key for us to start well tomorrow,” Brathwaite told members of the media on Friday.
“The most important thing was to build a foundation for me, and my team and I was happy with the time I spent. So well done to the team for getting a lead,” he added.
The West Indies will enter the third day with a lead of 112 runs, after ending the day on 52 for 2.
The Windies already have one warm-up fixture under their belt, a high-scoring three-day match against a combined NSW/ACT XI which ended in a draw on Saturday.
That game saw the Windies get scores of 424-9 declared and 114-4 while their opponents got 426-4 declared.
“Everyone is feeling good. We had a nice, competitive three-day game. The pitch was more batting friendly but I think our bowlers got a good run out as well.”
Australia’s PM’s XI will feature players with a lot of international experience and Brathwaite says this will give his side a big test ahead of the series.
“This second game is obviously a different team; a much more competitive team so we look forward to that challenge,” he said while also noting how important it will be to get used to the pink ball ahead of the first test.
“Gearing towards the first test, it will be good to get used to the pink ball and the conditions here in Australia. It will react differently off the surface, especially when the lights turn on. It tends to do a lot more at night so that is something we have to keep on our minds,” Brathwaite added.
The match gets underway on Tuesday at 10:00pm Jamaica time (11:00pm ECT).
Brathwaite scored a stroke-filled 95 from 156 balls, before becoming the third wicket of Jomel Warrican. The team’s pursuit of the target took an early wobble when opener Kieran Powell was dismissed for a duck in the second over. Powell was caught by Sunil Ambris off the bowling of Chemar Holder, having faced just four balls.
Brathwaite, however, immediately partnered with Shamar Brooks to settle the innings and put on 76 for the second wicket before Brooks was caught, for 19, by Hamilton, off the bowling of Nial Smith. Next to bat, Shimron Hetmyer only lasted 5 balls before has was bowled, by Warrican, for 12 runs.
The captain was then part of another significant partnership, putting on 67 with Kavem Hodge, before departing the scene with the team at 170 for 4. Joshua Da Silva became Warrican’s third wicket, after he was caught by Nkrumah Bonner, after putting seven runs on the board. Hodge, who has gone on to 59, has partnered with Paul Palmer Jr (31) as the team continues to pursue the target.
Warrican has so far claimed 3 for 52 with Holder and Smith taking one each.
Earlier resuming the second day at 280 for 7, overnight batsman Jermaine Blackwood, who resumed the day on 18, added another 16 runs before being bowled by Preston McSween. Imran Khan, the other overnight batsman, added another 21 to his 3 before becoming McSween’s fourth wicket. McSween ended with figures of 4 for 64. Jayden Seales claimed 3 for 42.
West Indies had bowled out their opponents for 217 on the opening day of the two-match series, only to then slip to 2-2 late in Thursday's proceedings when Mohammad Abbas struck twice.
It seemed they could struggle to get even close to parity when they slipped to 100-5 during day two, but Brathwaite stood firm to make sure his side claimed a first-innings lead.
The opening batsman hit 12 fours as he patiently worked his way to 97 but, with a hundred in sight, was caught short by Hasan Ali's direct hit from fine leg to depart.
Jason Holder contributed 58 as he added 96 for the sixth wicket with the man who replaced him as skipper, the former's fluent 108-ball knock including 10 boundaries.
Abbas dismissed Kemar Roach lbw in the closing overs, giving him figures of 3-42 in the match, while Shaheen Shah Afridi ended with 2-59.
However, Joshua Da Silva was unbeaten on 20 alongside Jomel Warrican, who will resume on one not out, as West Indies closed at 251-8, already holding what could be a crucial 34-run advantage in a potentially low-scoring contest.
Coming up short
Brathwaite appeared to be working his way towards a 10th Test century and a second of the calendar year, having made 126 against Sri Lanka back in March. While unable to make it to the milestone in the end, his defiant innings made sure West Indies hold the upper hand at Sabina Park.
Afridi strikes twice but hosts recover
Pakistan will feel they let West Indies off the hook, particularly after Afridi dismissed Jermaine Blackwood – whose ambitious attempt to hit over the top on 22 only found Abbas at mid-on – and Kyle Mayers with successive deliveries in the second session. They will hope to wrap up the tail quickly on day three.
The West Indies began the day 86-1 and Brathwaite and his overnight partner, debutant Kirk McKenzie, added a further 31 runs before McKenzie became the first man to fall on day three for a well-made 32 off 57 balls.
Vice-captain, Jermaine Blackwood, then joined the skipper out in the middle and the pair added a further 40 runs to the total before Brathwaite was brilliantly bowled by Ravichandran Ashwin for a top-score of 75 from 235 balls including five fours and a six.
Just after tea, Blackwood became Ravindra Jadeja’s second victim of the innings when he was caught brilliantly by Ajinkya Rahane at first slip for 20 with the score on 178.
Joshua Da Silva was next to go when his middle stump was uprooted by Mohammed Siraj for 10.
Alick Athanaze (37), and Jason Holder (11) were the batsmen at the crease at stumps.
Scores: India 438 off 128 overs (Virat Kohli 121, Rohit Sharma 80, Ravindra Jadeja 61, Yashasvi Jaiswal 57, Ravichandran Ashwin 56, Jomel Warrican 3-89, Kemar Roach 3-104, Jason Holder 2-57) West Indies 229-5 off 108 overs (Kraigg Brathwaite 75, Alick Athanaze 37*, Tagenarine Chanderpaul 33, Kirk McKenzie 32, Ravindra Jadeja 2-37)
Brathwaite demonstrated patience and tenacity on a pitch which offered some assistance to the seam bowlers in the first session. Brathwaite’s innings has spanned six-and-a-half hours in which he faced 239 balls and struck 11 fours. He is on the verge of a ninth Test century, which would also be his second at the venue, the other was 121 against Bangladesh in 2018.
When he reached 98, Brathwaite also became the 16th West Indian batsman to surpass 4,000 Test runs – to join an elite list. The others are Sir Everton Weekes, Sir Viv Richards, Brian Lara, Sir Garry Sobers, Rohan Kanhai, Sir Gordon Greenidge, Alvin Kallicharan, Sir Richie Richardson, Sir Clive Lloyd, Roy Fredericks, Chris Gayle, Shiv Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Desmond Haynes and Carl Hooper.
He held the innings together and shared the day’s honours with Saranga Lakmal who had claimed two early wickets – John Campbell and Nkrumah Bonner and added Jermaine Blackwood to end the day with 3-71.
Brathwaite and Kyle Mayers had a third-wicket partnership of 71 as the left-handed made 49. West Indies slipped to 222-7 in the final session of the day, but Brathwaite found another resolute partner in Rahkeem Cornwall, who closed unbeaten on 43, in a partnership that has been worth 65 runs so far for the eighth wicket.
Sri Lanka chasing 377 for victory ended on 193 for 2 after both captains decided a result was not possible an hour before the end of today's final day of play.
Dimuth Karunaratne scored 75 and Oshada Fernando an unbeaten 66 against disciplined bowling from the home side that restricted the visitors to 164 runs for the loss of two wickets from the 70 overs bowled today.
However, Brathwaite was awarded the Man-of-the-Match award for his knocks of 126 and 85 that helped bat the visitors out of contention.
"Pleasing winning the award - as captain want to lead from the front,” Brathwaite said afterwards.
“(The) main thing for me was to keep it simple. Bat most balls. Made sure I had a solid plan. I could change my batting style at times, but I am confident I can score at whatever rate I choose to.”
He praised his teammates for the resilience especially in light of the nature of the pitch that was kinder to the batsmen.
“Both pitches were good pitches. But happy guys didn't give up, up to the last spell. Batting 90-plus overs is great. Happy with the attitude and discipline. Happy with the attitude of the bowlers."
Resuming from their overnight total of 29-0 from the nine overs they faced on Thursday evening, Lahiru Thirimanne and Karunaratne took the score to 101 when Thirimane edged Alzarri Joseph to Rahkeem Cornwall at slip. He made 39.
As evidence of how tight the West Indies bowling was Sri Lanka scored 45 runs in the following 17 overs before Kyle Mayers trapped Karunaratne lbw for 75.
However, that was the last wicket to fall on the day as Fernando and Dinesh Chandimal took the score to 193 before play was called off.
Joseph finished with figures of 1-33 while Mayers had 1-5 from the six overs he bowled.
Suranga Lakmal was named player of the series for his 11 wickets.
Happy. I really want to win games, and bowl accordingly - that's what I like to do,” he said. (The) wicket was helping a bit, but I know how to bowl on such wickets. Bowl in right areas and challenging the bowlers is my style."
The two-Test series ended 0-0 as the first Test also ended in a draw.
