LONDON (CMC):

West Indies escapedwith a draw, as a combination of rain and bad light brought an unexpected end to their first Test against England yesterday.

Chasing a highly challenging, if not unreachable target of 401 for victory, West Indies were 89 without loss when the players trekked off the Lord's outfield for the second and final time.

Only 20 overs and a little under 1-1/2 hours of cricket was possible, after West Indies continued from their bedtime total of seven without loss and looking to bat through the entire final day to save the match.

Meaningless to continue

Steady drizzles drove the players off the field after about 35 minutes and when they came back a little over four hours later, bad light set in after about 45 minutes.

Umpires Rudi Koertzen and Asad Rauf then made a series of inspections and decided it was meaningless to continue about 2-1/2 hours later.

The four-Test series remains squared at 0-0 with the second Test starting on Friday at north England ground of Headingley in Leeds.

Despite the lack of time, Chris Gayle made hay while the rain stayed away to treat the sparse crowd to some attractive strokes in 47 not out and Daren Ganga passed 2,000 Test runs when he upper cut Steve Harmison over the slip cordon for four, on his way to 31 not out.

Shoddy bowling

On Sunday, West Indies were left to chase their unlikely target, after another shoddy bowling and fielding performance gifted Kevin Pietersen his seventh Test hundred for England.

The visitors conceded their fifth hundred of the Test to an England batsman, when Pietersen emerged from a circumspect start to hit 109 that allowed the hosts to declare their second innings at 282 for eight about 20 minutes before the scheduled close.

West Indies had been dismissed for 437 and conceded a first innings lead of 116.