Deonarine century denies Barbados victory

Guyana 241(Dowlin 73, Bradshaw 5-50) and 309 for 9 (Deonarine 136*) drew with Barbados 394 (Richards 127, Hinds 57, Holder 83)
Scorecard

Narsingh Deonarine struck a defiant unbeaten century to earn Guyana a fighting draw against Barbados on the final day of their Carib Beer Series match at the Everest Cricket Club.

Deonarine frustrated Barbados for the entire fourth day to hit an undefeated 136 as Guyana, facing a first innings deficit of 153, closed on 309 for 9 when the match was called off at 4.34 pm with 15 overs remaining. Showing fine powers of concentration, he held up Barbados for exactly eight hours, faced 366 balls and counted 14 fours on the way to his fourth first-class century which earned him the Man of the Match award. He resumed on 37, with Guyana on 105 for 2, and batted solidly for the entire day despite steadily losing partners. Deonarine reached his 50 off 136 balls with an off-drive for his sixth four and although he spent 50 minutes in the 90s, he raised his century in 20 minutes after tea from 256 balls.

Deonarine was well supported by Neil McGarell in an eighth wicket stand of 72 after Barbados had put themselves in a position to win by reducing Guyana to 203 for 7 half way into the day. He stayed with Deonarine for an hour-and-half and made 48 off 60 balls with five fours and two sixes, but the match was still in Barbados' favour when he was dismissed 38 minutes after tea.

In the pre-lunch session, Guyana lost two wickets for 63 runs, Travis Dowlin was run out for 25 and Assad Fudadin was well caught low at point by Wayne Blackman. After lunch, Andre Percival, Derwin Christian and Mahendra Nagamotoo all fell cheaply before Deonarine found a useful partner in McGarrell, who was eventually run out by a direct throw from Kurt Wilkinson at mid on.

At 279 for 9, Reon King joined Deonarine to put the contest out of Barbados' reach by batting for 39 minutes after which the two captains agreed to end the match. Barbados' bowlers, backed up by outstanding fielding, manfully stuck to the task in spite of Deonarine's obdurate effort. Ian Bradshaw finished with 3 for 76 off 24 overs and Ryan Nurse and Antonio Thomas took two wickets each.

Both teams have a brief break before playing their second match, starting on December 9, when Guyana meet Windward Islands at the Albion Community Development Centre in Berbice, while Barbados play Trinidad and Tobago at the Carlton Club, just outside Bridgetown