WIndies Waltz To Draw

The small crowd who had sat patiently through three relatively tame days of a fairly meaningless tour match deserved better.

The West Indians looked to be setting the foundation for an evening run chase as Devon Smith and Donovan Pagon scored five an over following the early dismissal of skipper Daren Ganga - bowled by Ajit Agarkar for four with just nine runs on the board.

But after they took the score to 45 for one from nine overs their ambition suddenly ground to a halt.

Two successive maidens stretched into a spell of four overs which produced just two runs and suddenly it was India who provided the interest and a brief scent of victory as they struck three times to reduce the West Indians from 49 for one to 57 for four.

Teenage wicket-keeping prospect Parthiv Patel caught Smith off Tinu Yohannan for 19 and Lendl Simmons for four off spinner Harbhajan Singh, either side of Sanjay Bangar's lbw disposal of Pagon for 18.

Dwayne Bravo provided just one flourish as he hooked Bangar for six but, after just one over of the scheduled last hour, the captains agreed on a draw with West Indies 81 for four.

Earlier Jermaine Lawson had turned in the best bowling figures of West Indies A's disappointing tour, capturing six for 76 as India progressed to 255 all out from their overnight 87 for three.

They looked in danger of defeat at 149 for six but Mohammad Kaif and Dinesh Mongia justified the cancellation of their planned flights home this week with a face-saving seventh-wicket stand of 85.

The two one-day specialists, invited to stay on with the party for the Test series against England, came together with India just 136 ahead with only four wickets standing.

Kaif was finally the last man out for 77, which included eight fours and a six, struck forcefully over extra cover off left-arm spinner Ryan Hinds, off 127 balls, while Mongia contributed 27.

In the morning session Test opener Wasim Jaffer, who had struggled through 14 overs for just five runs in the first innings, completed his chanceless half-century before falling for 52 to a stunning diving catch by Hinds off Lawson.