Windies survive Scotland scare

Sydney - West Indies' preparations for the Cricket World Cup went from bad to worse on Thursday when Scotland came up just four runs short of a famous upset in a warm-up match at Sydney Cricket Ground.

Thrashed by England on Monday, the twice world champions did just enough to restrict the Scots to 310 for nine in reply to the 313 for eight the West Indies posted in their 50 overs.

Wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin top scored for West Indies with an 86-ball innings of 88 after the bigger names in the batting line-up failed to fire.

Scottish opener Kyle Coetzer scored 96 to fire the run-chase and Richie Berrington chipped in with 66 but a string of late wickets destroyed their momentum at the death.