Set 120 for victory, after the West Indies B were dismissed for 339 in their second innings, Guyana accepted the challenge and despite losing wickets regularly, only abandoned the run chase when the eighth wicket fell at 98.

When stumps were drawn at 18:15 hrs, with lights turned on at the stadium for the final two deliveries, Guyana were 106 for nine, still 14 runs short of the required victory target with Azeemul Haniff, who batted at number 10 and last man Reon King on one.

The crowd was tense as King went out to face the final two deliveries from fast bowler Andrew Richardson, following the dismissal of Rayon Griffith, caught by wicketkeeper Carlton Baugh off the fourth ball of the final over. King , however got a single off the finish allowing Haniff to negotiate the final ball safely.

Final scores in the match were: West Indies B 134 and 339; Guyana 354 for eight declared and 106 for nine.

The West Indies B second innings were earlier boosted by half-centuries from Carlton Baugh (71) and Narsingh Deonarine (64), following the 55 made by Martin Nurse on the third day while left-arm spinner Neil McGarrell picked up five for 105 to end with match figures of 10 for 138 following his five for 33 in the first innings.

Guyana had made their intentions clear from the outset in the second innings, promoting Lennox Cush to open the batting with Sewnarine Chattergoon.

Cush however did not last long, as Aneil Kanhai snared a fabulous catch at third man off the bowling of Rayon Thomas with only six runs on the board.

Krishna Arjune, in an unusual role, then took centre stage with a blistering quick-fire 43 which included four sixes and a four, three of the sixes coming in one over off Thomas which yielded 24 runs.

Chattergoon and Pooran supported with 19 and 17 respectively but the rest of the batting did not get going and three run-outs failed to help the cause.

Jason Bennett finished with three for 18 from three overs while Richardson took for 44 from six.

Earlier, porous covers once again resulted in no play before lunch although there was brilliant sunshine when the players arrived at the ground.

When play finally got under way at 12:50 hrs, the overnight pair of Deonarine and Kanhai, who resumed on 21 and one respectively, extended their fourth wicket partnership to 32 before Guyana got the breakthrough.

Kanhai, who came to St Croix with .a big reputation after scoring 223 against Trinidad and Tobago at Guaracara Park and who was dismissed for nought in the first innings, again failed to impress, patting a delivery from McGarrell back to the bowler. It was then 162 for three..

Deonarine, and Gregory Mahabir then set about delighting the holiday crowd with a string of fine shots, the Guyanese pulling fast bowler Rayon Griffith over mid-wicket for a big six and expertly cover-driving skipper Neil McGarrell for a boundary to move close to 50.

Deonarine reached 50 with an exquisite cover drive off McGarrell, at the same time ensuring that Guyana had to bat again.

Mahabir also joined his partner with two boundaries in one over from McGarrell, the first through square cover and the other through extra cover.

Deonarine’s fine knock came to an end 26 minutes before the extended tea interval when Deonarine, in attempting to hit Griffith over long-on, only succeeded in finding McGarrell at wide mid-off. His 64 included four fours and three sixes in 152 minutes.

Mahabir reached his half-century just before tea with a single off leg-spinner Mahendra Nagamootoo and at the interval was undefeated on 52 with wicketkeeper Baugh on 13.

After tea, Baugh was in a no-nosense mood, racing to 50 in 57 minutes with the aid of eight fours and a six while Mahabir slammed 10 fours in his 71 before part-timer bowler Andre Percival had him caught by

Arjune at long-on.

The rest of the batting folded but lasted long enough to deny Guyana more overs to score the runs. By the time the West Indies B were dismissed, Guyana only had 12 overs to bat.

The crowd for this historic really had their money’s worth in the end.

Wicketkeeper Vishal Nagamootoo was adjudged man-of-the-match for his maiden first class ton.

WEST INDIES ‘B’ 1st innings 134 (P.Browne 41; N.McGarrell 5-33)

Guyana 1st innings 354 for 8 dec. (+V.Nagamootoo 115 no; R.Thomas 4-69)

WEST INDIES ‘B’ 2nd innings (138 for 3)

*S.Jeffers c Pooran b Nagamootoo 24

M.Nurse c Pooran b McGarrell 55

P.Browne c Pooran b Cush 26

N.Deonarine c McGarrell b Griffith 64

A.Kanhai c & b McGarrell 9

G.Mahabir c Arjune b Percival 71

+C.Baugh c sub. Dowlin b McGarrell 50

A.Jaggernauth lbw McGarrell 8

A.Richardson b M.Nagamootoo 7

J.Bennett c M.Nagamootoo b McGarrell 0

R.Thomas not out 1

Extras: (b-13, lb-8, nb-3) 24

Total: (all out) 339

Fall of wickets: 1-74, 2-92, 3-129, 4-162, 5-245, 6-314, 7-319, 8-331, 9-331.

Bowling: King 11-1-50-0 (nb-2), Griffith 10-4-25-1 (nb-1), McGarrell 44-16-105-5, Nagamootoo 38.3-8-107-2, Cush 9-3-20-0, Percival 3-1-11-1.

GUYANA 2nd innings

S.Chattergoon run-out 19

L.Cush c Kanhai b Thomas 3

K.Arjune c Browne b Richardson 43

H.Pooran run-out 17

M.Nagamootoo c wkp. Baugh b Bennett 0

*N.McGarrell c wkp. Baugh b Bennett 0

A.Percival run-out 8

R.Griffith c Baugh b Richardson 4

+V.Nagamootoo b Bennett 0

A.Haniff not out 2

R.King not out 1

Extras: (lb-4, nb-5) 9

Total: (for 9 wickets) 106

Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-40, 3-81, 4-83, 5-83, 6-91, 7-98, 8-98, 9-105.

Bowling: Richardson 6-0-44-2 (nb-5), Thomas 3-0-40-1, Bennett 3-0-18-3.