India saved themselves from a possible banana skin by drawing their match against the West Indies A team, thanks to another sparkling half-century by Mohammed Kaif.

Kaif, the Man of the Match in last Saturday's one-day NatWest Series final, cannot play in the Tests unless special permission is sought from the Indian Board.

He was allowed to stay on following his brilliant 87 not out at Lord's, however, and did not waste the opportunity as he hit a six and eight fours after India had struggled to 149 for six.

Acting captain Vangipurrapu Laxman eventually declared with a lead of 242, giving his bowlers the chance to make some inroads into the West Indies A batting line-up in the final session.

Windies wobble

And Ajit Agarkar was quick to follow up his four wickets in the first innings as he bowled Daren Ganga for four.

Devon Smith and Donovan Pagon then put on a partnership of 42 for the second wicket but the West Indies wobbled when three more wickets fell for only eight extra runs.

However, Dwayne Bravo and Ryan Hinds steadied the ship and their unbeaten partnership of 34 for the fifth wicket persuaded both captains to end the game early with a draw the only possible result.

India's final warm-up match before the first Test at Lord's next Thursday is against Hampshire, beginning on Saturday.

Early struggle

In the morning India had resumed on 87 for three but again struggled for fluency after youngster Parthiv Patel was caught behind by deputy wicket-keeper Llendl Simmons off Jermaine Lawson for 20.

Paceman Lawson also removed Wasim Jaffer in the morning session after the opener had made 52, adding just nine runs to his overnight score.

Laxman fell to Marlon Black for 17 and when India went into lunch on 168 for six, their lead was only 155.

Kaif and Dinesh Mongia (27) produced some good batting to add 85 during the afternoon before Lawson returned to dismiss both, and he also picked up the wicket of Agarkar to finish with six for 76.

India: S S Das, W Jaffer, V V S Laxman (Capt), D Mongia, S B Bangar, M Kaif, A Ratra (Wkt), P A Patel, A B Agarkar, Harbhajan Singh, T Yohannan.

West Indies A: D Ganga (Capt), D S Smith, D J Pagon, L M P Simmons, R O Hinds, D J Bravo, C H Gayle, K H Hibbert (Wkt), J J C Lawson, M I Black, R D King.

Umpires: N J Llong and N A Mallender