After being restricted to 188 for nine in their 50 overs with makeshift opener Ramnaresh Sarwan also making 40, Guyana dismissed Canada for 160 in 47.5 overs to start their title defence on a winning note.

Captain Joseph Harris top-scored for Canada with 33 off 45 balls before he was a tad unlucky to be given run-out after he dropped his bat while attempting a second run with the total on 127 for seven.

Leg-spinner Mahendra Nagamootoo, whose first eight overs yielded only 14 runs, was Guyana’s most successful bowler with three wickets for 30 off 9.5 overs.

However, Nagamootoo's figures were spoilt somewhat when tail-ender Davis Joseph hoisted him for two huge sixes between midwicket and long-on.

The lanky Grenadian-born Joseph also lifted Sarwan for a six over long-off in his entertaining 24-ball cameo of 25 before he miscued another flighted delivery from Nagamootoo and holed out to substitute fielder Gonsalves to give the bowler a measure of revenge.

Left-arm spinner Neil McGarrell also bowled his 10 overs tidily, conceding just 17 runs and taking the wicket of No.3 batsman Desmond Chumney, who was bowled for four.

Test batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who made 25 when Guyana batted but did not field because of a slight fever, is expected to be well to play in Guyana's second game against the Windwards XI, tomorrow.

Earlier, Guyana, who won the toss and batted, declined from the comfort of 85 for one, losing wickets steadily to off-spinner John Davison, who was the best of the Canadian bowlers with four for 46 in his ten overs.

The six-time champions experimented by using West Indies’ batsman Sarwan as Sewnarine Chattergoon’s opening partner, while omitting the dashing Gonsalves, Travis Dowlin and fast bowler Rayon Griffith.

The move did not seem to work as Guyana started very slowly with Sarwan taking 28 balls to get off the mark while Chattergoon fell for 16 with the total on 21.

Sarwan, after being dropped on the midwicket boundary when he was just 11 and mis-stumped on 17, and Chanderpaul then added 64 for the second wicket while posting the Guyana fifty in the process in 16.4 overs.

Guyana’s decline started when Davison lured Chanderpaul out of his crease for wicketkeeper Ashish Bagai to complete the first of his three stumpings in the Guyana innings.

Hooper joined Sarwan and after being badly dropped by Barry Seebaran on the midwicket boundary with his score on 15 off the steady Davison, stabilised the innings before he was seventh out at 164-7.

Sarwan's 82-ball vigil came to an end when he was trapped leg-before-wicket by Davison as he went on the back foot while Lennox Cush, who got off the mark with a six over long-on off Seebaran, raced to 20 off 23 balls before skiing a catch to short midwicket.

Narsingh Deonarine made just two before he was swiftly stumped by Bagai off Davison and McGarrell fell to the pacy Joseph (2-33), edging a catch to the wicketkeeper.

Bagai then brought off a quick leg-side stumping, standing up to the stumps to the gentle medium pace of Nicholas de Groot to account for Hooper.

Guyana’s slide continued with the dismissals of Mahendra Nagamootoo (9) and Colin Stuart (4) but wicketkeeper Vishal Nagamootoo gathered 15 not out to boost the final total.

In reply, Canada got an encouraging start of 37 in 10 overs between Ishwar Maraj (22) and former Guyana opener Fazil Sattaur, who hit four boundaries in a breezy 21 as he launched an attack on Stuart.

Sattaur was finally bowled off the inside edge by Reon King and while Chumney was bowled by McGarrell and Maraj went in similar fashion to Nagamootoo as the Canadians dipped to 61 for three.

Bagai was run-out for six while de Groot made 11 before he clipped a catch to Sarwan at short backward square off Hooper and Davison was stumped by Vishal Nagamootoo off Hooper as Canada slumped to 99 for six.

Harris and Abdool Samad (10) then added 28 for the seventh-wicket but once Harris departed and Austin Codrington followed at the same score, Canada’s hopes of a victory vanished even though Joseph entertained the just over 100 spectators by clobbering three sixes and a four in his breezy knock.

SCOREBOARD

GUYANA innings

S.Chattergoon c de Groot b Codrington 16

R.Sarwan lbw b Davison 40

S.Chanderpaul stp. Bagai b Davison 25

C.Hooper stp. Bagai b de Groot 40

L.Cush c Chumney b Davison 20

N.Deoonarine stp. Bagai b Davison 2

N.McGarrell c wkp. Bagai b Joseph 2

M.Nagamootoo c de Groot b Joseph 9

V.Nagamootoo not out 15

C.Stuart run-out 0

R.King not out 0

Extras: (lb-7, nb-5, w-3) 15

Total: (9 wickets, 50 overs) 188

Fall of wickets: 1-21, 2-85, 3-113, 4-143, 5-147, 6-159, 7-164, 8-168, 9-177.

Bowling: Codrington 10-2-31-1 (w-2), Joseph 10-0-33-2 (nb-4), de Groot 10-0-28-1 (w-1, nb-1), Seebaran 10-1-43-0, Davison 10-0-46-4.

CANADA innings

F.Sattaur b King 21

I.Maraj b M.Nagamootoo 22

D.Chumney b McGarrell 4

A.Bagai run-out 6

N.de Groot c Sarwan b Hooper 11

J.Harris run-out 33

J.Davison stp. V.Nagamootoo b Hooper 3

A.Samad c sub. Dowlin b M.Nagamootoo 10

A.Codrington lbw b M.Nagamootoo 0

D.Joseph c sub. Gonsalves b M.Nagamootoo 25

B.Seebaran not out 2

Extras: (lb-9, nb-1, w-13) 23

Total: (all out, 47.5 overs) 160

Fall of wickets: 1-37, 2-59, 3-61, 4-75, 5-95, 6-99, 7-127, 8-127, 9-146.

Bowling: King 6-0-12-1 (w-2, nb-1), Stuart 4-0-22-0 (w-3), M.Nagamootoo 9.5-1-30-4 (w-3), McGarrell 10-1-17-1, Hooper 8-1-31-2 (w-1), Sarwan 8-0-35-1 (w-1), Cush 2-0-4-0.