April 28, 2002	Sunday	Safar 14, 1423

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CASTRIEs (St Lucia), April 27: Wavell Hinds and Devon Smith boosted their claims for places in the West Indies side for the third Test by leading the Busta XI to 250 for two against a depleted Indian attack Friday.

Hinds slammed an unbeaten 140 and Smith hit 91 as the two left-handers put on 215 for the second wicket before Smith was bowled by off-spinner Sarandeep Singh off the last ball on the first day of the three-day tour match.

Vangipurappu Laxman captained the Indian team in the absence of skipper Saurav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and the three front-line seamers, Javagal Srinath, Ashish Nehra and Zaheer Khan.

Only 60.3 overs were bowled after the start was delayed by three-and-a-half hours due to a waterlogged area in the bowlers’ run up at the National Stadium, parts of which are still under construction.

Busta XI captain Ridley Jacobs elected to bat after winning the toss and Smith, from the island of Grenada, cut all-rounder Sanjay Bangar for two boundaries behind point and then hooked him for four more to fine leg.

The 20-year-old opener, who scored a season-high 750 runs at 62.50 in this year’s Busta Cup domestic competition, raced to his 50 from 57 balls, driving leg-spinner Anil Kumble to the mid-wicket fence for four.

Former Test player Daren Ganga was the first wicket to fall, clean bowled by Kumble for five after playing across the line.

Kumble, who has 318 Test wickets, was left out of the side for India’s second Test win over West Indies in Trinidad earlier this week — a victory that gave the tourists a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

Hinds, looking to make a Test comeback, cut loose after tea, dispatching India’s three spinners to all corners of the ground.

The Jamaican launched his onslaught by flicking Kumble to the fine-leg fence and then lofted him over long-on for a towering six.

Hinds, who has played in 20 Tests, swept Sarandeep backward of square for three consecutive fours and lofted Kumble for another straight six.

The 25-year-old brought up his 50 with a single to long-off and then hooked paceman Tinu Yohannan over fine-leg for his third six.

Hinds, who has scored 1,062 Test runs at 29.50, reached his century in only 129 balls, driving off-spinner Harbhajan Singh through the covers for the 14th of his 19 fours.

The Busta XI side contains four other former Test players — Jacobs, all-rounder Ryan Hinds, leg-spinner Dinanath Ramnarine and opener Ganga.

The third Test in Barbados begins May 2.