Close India 253 for 7 dec. (Mongia 87, Laxman 85) and 255 all out (Jaffer 52, Kaif 77) drew with West Indies A 266 (Smith 69, Hinds 62, Agarkar 4 for 55) and 81 for 4 Mohammad Kaif built on his NatWest Trophy-winning heroics with a solid 77 as India battled to a draw in their warm-up game against West Indies A. Despite a classy half-century from Wasim Jaffer, India had slumped to 149 for 6, with fast bowler Jermaine Lawson doing most of the damage. Both Parthiv Patel and VVS Laxman were caught behind by part-time wicketkeeper Lendl Simmons, off Lawson and Marlon Black respectively, and it was left to Kaif and Dinesh Mongia to avoid potential embarrassment.

They did that with some aplomb. Kaif played some superb cover-drives and was also quick onto the pull, a stroke he played with some fluency in the one-day games. Mongia's 27 was a supporting effort and the 85 runs they added made the game safe for India. Lawson came back with a tremendous spell that sent back Kaif, Mongia and Ajit Agarkar in quick succession, but there was never much chance of West Indies A chasing the 243 they needed for victory in 41 overs.

Agarkar bowled Daren Ganga for just 4 to leave them 7 for 1, and when Yohannan had Devon Smith caught behind for 19, West Indies A decided to batten down the hatches. Sanjay Bangar and Harbhajan Singh chipped in with further wickets but Ryan Hinds - who had earlier taken a stunning catch to dismiss Jaffer - and Dwayne Bravo made sure there would be no house-of-cards collapse.

India will take heart from the batting of Laxman, Mongia, Kaif and Jaffer and the bowling of Agarkar and Harbhajan, with the first Test now less than a week away. Sanjay Bangar and Tinu Yohannan probably blew their chances of being in the squad for Lord's, but Kaif and Mongia have given the tour selectors a headache or two. Just who will they leave out of a batting contingent, where just about everyone seems to be firing? The final tune-up against Hampshire might offer a few answers.

Teams
India 1 SS Das, 2 Wasim Jaffer, 3 VVS Laxman (capt), 4 Dinesh Mongia, 5 Sanjay Bangar, 6 Ajay Ratra (wk), 7 Mohammad Kaif, 8 Parthiv Patel, 9 Ajit Agarkar, 10 Harbhajan Singh, 11 Tinu Yohannan.

West Indies A 1 Daren Ganga (capt), 2 Devon Smith Chris Gayle, 3 Donovan Pagon, 4 Lendl Simmons, 5 Ryan Hinds, 6 Dwayne Bravo, 7 Chris Gayle, 8 Keith Hibbert (wk), 9 Jermaine Lawson, 10 Marlon Black, 11 Reon King.

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