WEST Indies beat Canada by a whopping 208 runs thanks to an 11th One-Day International century from ace batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul at Sabina Park yesterday.

The Guyanese stroked 101 from 121 balls during his 180 minutes stay at the crease, while belting six fours and one six in the Supreme Ventures Sports Betting Jamaica Cricket Festival.

Winning the toss and electing to bat, the regional team amassed 316-4 as the Canadian bowlers failed to stop the flow of runs.

Chasing an improbably victory target of 317, Canada struggled to put together any partnership of note and were blown away for 108 to end winless in the Festival.

The North Americans started badly when Bastiampillai ran himself out with the score on nine. It was soon 23-2 when fellow opener Ritzwam Cheema was bowled by David Bernard Jr for 10.

Five runs later, captain Ashish Bagai (4) edged a short delivery from Ravi Rampaul to Darren Sammy at second slip.

Bagai had been the lone Canadian to show any appetite for runs during the Festival after twice reaching 50 in earlier games.

His dismissal signalled the end of the chase for the touring team as their last seven wickets fell for 80 runs. Lower-order batsman Bhatti was mainly responsible for the total reaching beyond a hundred with a patient, unbeaten 32.

Left-arm orthodox spinner Nikita Miller took 3-15, while Suliemen Benn and Darren Sammy took two wickets each.

Earlier, West Indies openers Chanderpaul and Andre Fletcher (48) set the stage with a solid 88-run stand before the latter pulled left-arm spinner Parth Desai’s first ball spell into the hands of midwicket.

Left-handed batsman Darren Bravo then joined the experienced Chanderpaul and the pair batted smartly to put on 143 for the second wicket.

Bravo drove authoritatively down the ground to the spinners, while Chanderpaul unleashed a series of sweeps and reverse sweeps during his well-paced knock to keep the Canadian fielders chasing leather.

The young Trinidadian was eventually bowled when he played around a full-pitched delivery from seamer Cheema. By then, he had neatly compiled a run-a- ball 74, inclusive of six fours and two sixes.

Eight runs later, Chanderpaul was dismissed when he drove Bhatti to long-on just one delivery after bringing up his century.

This brought Deonarine to the crease to join fellow Guyanese Ramnaresh Sarwan. Both unfurled lusty blows within the last five overs to ensure that the Caribbean men easily passed the 300-run mark.

Sarwan showed good form after returning to first-class cricket following a back injury and ended unbeaten on 47 from from 26 balls, while Deonarine was sent back in the last over of the innings for a quickfire 31.

West Indies will now turn their attention to Ireland, whom they will face in a 50- over match tomorrow, before scaling down to a pair of Twenty20 games on April 17 and 18 against the same opposition. Both teams have been grouped together, along with England, to compete in the ICC T20 World Cup to be held in the Caribbean later this month.

Scoreboard

WEST INDIES

+A Fletcher c Cheema b Desai 48

S Chanderpaul c Surkari b Bhatti 101

D Bravo b Cheema 74

R Sarwan not out 47

N Deonarine c Limbada b Patel 31

W Hinds not out 0

Extras (lb5, w9, nb1) 15

TOTAL (4 wkts, 50 overs) 316

Did not bat: *D Sammy, D Bernard, N Miller, R Rampaul, S Benn.

Fall of wickets: 1-88, 2-231, 3-239, 4-311.

Bowling: Osinde 5-0-26-0, Choham 10-2-47-0, Bhatti 10-0-61-1, Cheema 7-0-63-1, Desai 9-1-60-1, Bastiampillai 2-0-11-0, Dhaniram 3-0-15-0, Patel 4-0-28-1

CANADA – *+A Bagai (captain), R Cheema, T Bastiampillai, U Bhatti, K Chohan, P Desai, S Dhaniram, U Limbada, H Osinde, H Patel, Z Surkari.

CANADA

T Bastiampillai run out 2

R Cheema b Bernard 10

Z Surkari c wkp Fletcher b Sammy 19

*+A Bagai c Sammy b Rampaul 4

U Limbada st Fletcher b Benn 5

S Dhaniram c Sarwan b Sammy 8

H Patel st Fletcher b Benn 6

U Bhatti not out 32

K Choham c Sarwan b Miller 3

H Osinde b Miller 7

P Desai c Bravo b Miller 2

Extras (lb5, w4, nb1) 10

TOTAL (all out, 39.2 overs) 108

Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-23, 3-28, 4-44, 5-46, 6-52, 7-61, 8-76, 9-92, 10-108.

Bowling: Rampaul 6-0-15-1, Bernard 4-0-24-1, Benn 10-2-24-2, *Sammy 6-2-14-2, Miller 9.2-2-15-3, Deonarine 4-0-11-0.

Result: West Indies won by 208 runs.

Toss: West Indies

Umpires: Norman Malcolm, Ian Ramage.

Match referee: Jeff Crowe.