Gayle, Samuels slam fifties in draw

West Indians 466 (Chanderpaul 112, Deonarine 94, Imtiaz 5-117) and 199 for 5 (Gayle 58, Samuels 58) drew with Uttar Pradesh 372 for 9 (Parvinder 112, Cottrell 3-65)
Scorecard

Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels, two batsmen who failed in the first innings, found form in the second, hitting half-centuries on the final day of the drawn three-day game in Kolkata. The West Indians finished on 199 for 5 after Uttar Pradesh declared their first innings at 372 for 9.

Gayle and Samuels scored 58 each and both paced their innings in similar fashion. Gayle's knock came off 49 balls with 11 fours while Samuels' came off 47 balls with nine fours and a six. Gayle and opener Kieran Powell added 68 before Powell was bowled by Piyush Chawla. The legspinner then took a return catch to get rid of Gayle. Samuels and Denesh Ramdin added a quick 84 at more than a run-a-ball before Arish Alam claimed Samuels. The match ended after the tourists batted out 37 overs.

Earlier, Parvinder Singh, overnight on 78, went on to score a century. His 112 off 147 balls included 17 fours and two sixes and he added 57 with Amir Khan. Amir and Chawla narrowly missed their fifties before UP declared 94 short of the visitors' score. Sheldon Cottrell and Veerasammy Permaul took three wickets each.

Even though this was the West Indians' only warm-up game ahead of the first Test in Kolkata, which starts on November 6, coach Ottis Gibson said they achieved most of their targets during the match as the batsmen spent quality time at the crease and the bowlers got a few overs under their belt.

"At the start, we said we wanted to get some quality practice," Gibson said. "Shivnarine Chanderpaul got a hundred, Narsingh Deonarine batted well and all of the others, but time in the middle was much more important for us. We have not played a Test match for a long time, so it was important for everybody to get a run out and this game was good for us.

"It also gave us an understanding of what is going to happen next week and what we need to do, particularly as a bowling attack. We will need to bowl more patiently than we were here, but everyone got a few overs under their belt and this would put us in a good position."

He diminished fears of Kemar Roach and Shane Shillingford missing the Test as they didn't feature in the practice game. "Shane was supposed to play, but he slept badly on his neck the night before, and had a bit of stiffness," he said. "Kemar is the same. Those two will add a little bit more potency to our attack, but it was good to see Sheldon Cottrell get a run out in this match, Tino Best also bowled well and so too Veerasammy Permaul, so everything is looking on course for next week."