BRISBANE, Oct 30: West Indies were denied victory in their opening tour match in Australia when Queensland held on to salvage a draw on Sunday.

The tourists were seemingly poised for a big win when Marlon Samuels ripped through Queensland’s middle-order in a fine all-round performance following the 257 he made with the bat the previous day.

Samuels grabbed five for 87 as Queensland slumped to 286-7, still three runs short of avoiding an innings defeat, before the locals staged a late fightback.

Chris Hartley led the recovery with an unbeaten 60 while Ryan Le Loux (14), Mitchell Johnson (4) and Michael Kasprowicz (9 not out) all chipped in to help Queensland reach 378-9 and an overall lead of 90 when play was abandoned half an hour early.

Martin Love top-scored in Queensland’s second innings with 108, while Australian one-day specialist Andrew Symonds contributed 77.

Love and Symonds shared a 175-run partnership for the fourth wicket after Queensland slumped to 87-3 before lunch having resumed at 52-1.

Their stand ended when Symonds was caught by Ramnaresh Sarwan off Samuels, triggering a middle-order collapse before Hartley’s unbeaten 60 forced the draw.

West Indies play Australia in the first of three Tests starting at the Gabba in Brisbane on Thursday.

Scoreboard

QUEENSLAND (1st Innings) 323 (R.N. Le Loux 63, M.L. Love 55, A. Symonds 55; D.B. Powell 4-58, D.J.J. Bravo 3-86).

WEST INDIES (1st Innings) 612-9 declared (M.N. Samuels 257, D.S. Smith 115, C.H. Gayle 58; C.P. Simpson 4-173).

QUEENSLAND (2nd Innings, overnight 52-1):

M.L. Hayden c Lara b Best 22

J.P. Maher c Ramdin b Bravo 33

M.L. Love lbw b Gayle 108

S.R. Watson c and b Samuels 6

A. Symonds c Sarwan b Samuels 77

J.R. Hopes c Sarwan b Samuels 5

C.P. Simpson c Sarwan b Samuels 5

C.D. Hartley not out 60

R.N. Le Loux c and b Samuels 14

M.G. Johnson run out 4

M.S. Kasprowicz not out 9

EXTRAS (B-21, LB-3, W-4, NB-7) 35

TOTAL (for nine wkts, 99 overs) 378

FALL OF WKTS: 1-41, 2-74, 3-87, 4-262, 5-272, 6-272, 7-286, 8-331, 9-343.

BOWLING: Best 24-6-100-1 (5nb, 1w); Bravo 14-2-73-1 (2nb); Gayle 24-9-36-1; Samuels 29-4-87-5; Chanderpaul 7-0-48-0 (3w); Sarwan 1-0-10-0.

RESULT: Match drawn.—AFP