The Guyana Harpy Eagles held on for a narrow one-wicket win over the Windward Volcanoes as the West Indies Championship encounter at the Queen's Park Oval came to a thrilling conclusion on Saturday.
Resuming the day on 157 for 7, with Larry Edward (29) and Kenneth Dember (9) the batsmen at the crease, the Windwards could only manage another 33 runs before they were all out for 190 in the 64 overs. Dember was the first to be dismissed after managing to add just 5 to his overnight total, before being caught by Anthony Bramble off Veerasammy Permaul.
Edward briefly partnered with Preston McSween to add 17 for the 9th wicket, but that did not last long as Edward was next to depart, caught by Hetmyer off Permaul for 43. McSween could not repeat the heroics of the first innings and followed soon after. Permaul finished the innings with figures of 53 for 5.
The tally meant Guyana needed 203 for victory. The Eagles seemed well set to reach the target as they coasted to 89 without loss on the back of a smooth 60 from 72 balls from Chandrapaul Hemraj and Tagenarine Chanderpaul (28).
The bowling of off-spinner Kenneth Dember threw a wrench in those proceedings as he claimed 5-80 and triggered a collapse. The Eagles slipped to 140-6 and then 183-9.
Permaul, however, played a crucial, steady innings late on with an unbeaten knock of 20 which pushed the Eagles to the target. Vishaul Singh added 24 with Leon Johnson 21 and Clinton Pestano 20 also making handy contributions.