Sarwan is one of the key members of the West Indies batting line-up

Ramnaresh Sarwan played himself into form with a century as West Indies drew their Test warm-up game against Auckland in New Zealand.

Sarwan struck two sixes and 23 fours before retiring on 158 as the tourists totalled 431-7 on the final day.

He shared a stand of 116 with opener Sewnarine Chattergoon, who secured his Test place by making 93.

But West Indies have concerns about their bowling after Auckland piled up 587-7 declared earlier in the game.

Fidel Edwards took 3-125 but fellow fast bowlers Kemar Roach and Lionel Baker only managed one wicket between them and are unlikely to displace either Daren Powell or Jerome Taylor for the first of two Tests, which starts in Dunedin on Thursday.

Taylor and Powell will go into the game without having seen any competitive action since the end of a one-day series against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi in mid-November.

West Indies have, meanwhile, named wicketkeeper Dinesh Ramdin as vice-captain after Sarwan asked to give up the job of Chris Gayle's number two.

"We have a crucial series coming up and I aim to play a major role," Ramdin commented.

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version