Under dark gray skies and in gloomy conditions threatening rain failed to save Guyana from an embarrassing 131 run defeat at the hands of the Windward Islands yesterday at the Botanical Gardens in their third round Carib Beer regional four-day first class cricket encounter.
Set 255 to win, Guyana began the final day with much hope on 41 without loss and by lunch had progressed to 65 without losing a wicket in the rain-hit first session in which 58 minutes were lost.
At lunch Krishna Arjune was on 39 and Sewnarine Chattergoon on 20 and, with victory 190 runs away and the pitch offering no real assistance to the bowlers except the odd ball keeping low, the 20-odd Guyanese who left their jobs to support their countrymen were hoping that the rain stayed away.
By tea how things had changed. At 108-6 the Guyanese were praying for a thunderstorm, which threatened but never came, to save their team from their third consecutive defeat in the 2004 competition and their first against the Windwards since 1996 when they were beaten at the Windsor Park here in Dominica.
On a slow track and heavy outfield, Guyana slipped from 73-0 and lost six wickets in the second session as their batsmen meekly surrendered to the on-target swing bowling of St. Lucian Darren Sammy who had flayed them with the bat the day before for 87 runs.
Once Sammy, capitalizing on the overcast conditions, removed Arjune for a well compiled 41 to a low catch by Devon Smith at first slip, the flood gates were opened and Guyana, yet to record a point in the eight-team competition, never recovered.
Arjune hit four fours and a six in his 105-ball innings but once he departed the last nine Guyana batsmen all failed to reach double figures as they crashed to defeat at 4:10 PM yesterday.
Narsingh Deonarine (3) who scored two half centuries for West Indies 'B' the last time he played in Dominica, drove Sammy to mid-off at 83-2 while Travis Dowlin who scored a half-century in the first innings, had his middle stump uprooted by Sammy for four at 89-3.
The out of form Lennox Cush (5) was taken at mid-off driving at left arm pacer Deighton Butler at 105-4 before Andre Percival and skipper Neil McGarrell fell for ducks at 107.
Percival got a ball which cut back from Butler and was trapped LBW while McGarrel was run out looking for a quick single to point just before tea.
After the tea break the sun returned for a short period with the home team, who beat Jamaica on first innings points and lost outright to Barbados, battling the Guyana lower order and the ominous weather.
The left-handed Chattergoon was removed in the first over after tea when eight short of his third fifty in the 2004 competition to leave Guyana on their knees at 108-7.
The Albion opener showed the type of fight and commitment sadly lacking among many players in this Guyana side and reached the boundary three times in his gritty 166 ball innings of 42 which began on Sunday afternoon and lasted for over four hours of resolute batting.
Mahendra Nagamootoo who has not looked himself for the entire 'away' leg of the Guyana matches, whipped Sammy for four over square and then, with Guyana hoping to hold on for a draw and salvage some pride from the game, attempted a lusty pull shot and was sent packing for nine next ball with the score on 123-8.
Nagamootoo might have been hit a bit high as the Barbadian umpire raised the dreaded finger but the shot he played was an indication of the general attitude of the Guyana players this season, both on and off the field.
From 123-8 the end was swift. Sammy had Esuan Crandon LBW first ball to claim his fifth wicket and then in the next over, Butler removed Vishal Nagamootoo. Butler's success sealed a rare win for the Windward Islands over Guyana at this level.
Vishal Nagamootoo, like he did in the first innings when he made an unbeaten 28, showed his ability to put his head down and bat sensibly before he touched a beauty from Butler that left him and was neatly caught at by Sammy at third slip for six, leaving Rayon Griffith the fourth Guyana batsmen to come off the mark.
Sammy ended with 5-20 from 19 impressive overs and was named the Man-of-the-Match while Butler supported with 4-17.
Guyana's next game is against the Leeward Islands at Enmore in Guyana and it will not be surprising if major changes are made to this team which has lacked fight and the understanding of their role as ambassadors of their country in a foreign land.
SCOREBOARD:
Windwards (204- Wilkinson 64)
Guyana (192-Dowlin 78)
Windwards 2nd Inns. (242- Sammy 87, Smith 52)
Guyana 2nd Inns. (O/N 41-0)
S. Chattergoon LBW b Butler 42
K. Arjune c Smith b Sammy 41
N.Deonarine c Cuffy b Sammy 3
T. Dowlin b Sammy 4
L. Cush c Thomas b Butler 5
A. Percival LBW b Butler 0
N.McGarrell run out 0
M.Nagamootoo LBW b Sammy 9
V. Nagamootoo c Sammy b Butler 6
E.Crandon LBW b Sammy 0
R.Griffith not out 0
Extras 13 (lb-4, nb-9)
Total 123 all out
Fall of wickets- 73, 83, 89, 105, 107,107, 108, 123, 123,123.