Dyson - File

NAPIER, New Zealand (CMC):

West Indies coach, John Dyson, has hailed the regional side's fighting qualities following their drawn second Test against New Zealand yesterday and says the result was a better one than losing the match.

West Indies set New Zealand 312 to win in two sessions, but the hosts could only reach 220 for five before the match was called off late in the day, with no possibility of a positive outcome.

"We came here obviously trying to win, as the first match was affected by the weather. We expected a very good pitch here and that's what we got and I'm pleased with the way the team fought throughout this match," Dyson said.

Good game

"At no point in this match did we give up and that is what I'm very pleased about. It ended up a pretty good game and could have gone either way in the final afternoon. Earning a draw is better than losing."

West Indies resumed the day on 278 for seven and were eventually dismissed for 375, with captain Chris Gayle narrowly missing out on a double century with 197. He shared a crucial 70-run, eighth wicket stand with Fidel Edwards (20), to deny the Black Caps the crucial success they needed early in the first session.

In their turn at the crease, New Zealand got half-centuries from Jesse Ryder (59 not out) and Jamie How (54) but could not mount the sustained assaulted needed to reach their target.

The two-Test series finished in a 0-0 draw after the rain-ravaged first Test in Dunedin ended in a stalemate.

West Indies will now turn their attention to the two Twenty20 Internationals beginning Boxing Day and the five One-Day Internationals that follow.

Dyson said the team would now seek to prepare mentally for the switch to the shorter versions of the game.

"We have a few new players who have joined the team and they have been to the nets trying to get over their jetlag," the former Australian Test batsman said.

"We just have to readjust our thinking and the way we approach the game as we look forward to these matches and get ready for T20s. With our team, they have a lot of Twenty20 experience and it is a form of the game they are very comfortable and happy with."

The opening T20I bowls off at Eden Park from 5 p.m. (12 midnight Eastern Caribbean time ).

West Indies' Sulieman Benn (left) is congratulated by Fidel Edwards for taking the wicket of New Zealand's Ross Taylor (unseen) lbw for 46, on the fifth day of the second international cricket Test at the McLean Park, Napier, New Zealand, yesterday. - AP