Bermuda 158-9

West Indies 159-4

A gutsy Bermuda bowed out of the Scotiabank Series Cup in Toronto yesterday with their heads held high after forcing the West Indies to sweat it out for a six-wicket victory.

After being sent in to bat on a damp strip, Bermuda recovered from a precarious 79 for four to eventually post a decent total against a varied Windies attack led by left-arm spinner Nikita Miller, who claimed three for 19.

A fired up Bermuda then plucked three quick wickets to push the Windies on the back foot before acting skipper Ramnaresh Sarwan (49) and ODI debutant Brenden Nash (27) came to the rescue to guide their team to victory with 109 balls to spare.

But it all could have easily gone horribly wrong had an inside edge off the bat of Sarwan hit the stumps with the Windies in a spot of bother at 90 for four and Bermuda moving in for the kill.

"We definitely had them on the ropes and I think anything could've happened at that stage," said Bermuda skipper Irving Romaine.

"I thought we attacked the West Indies and showed that we do have the potential to play some of the big boys."

In stark contrast to Romaine's positive outlook, acting Windies skipper Sarwan was anything but satisfied with the manner in which his team made a mess of chasing what should've been a straight forward target.

"I am disappointed with the way we batted going after their (Bermuda) total.

"Before the game we spoke about the sort of level we play at and the level Bermuda play at but unfortunately some of our top order batsmen didn't get a good score. We can't be too happy about the way we went about things," said Sarwan, who captained the Windies in the absence of flu-riddled Chris Gayle.

West Indies fast bowler Fidel Edwards also missed yesterday's match through a back injury sustained earlier this week during practice.

Coming up against a more experienced bowling attack, Bermuda always faced an uphill climb and their task was made all the more daunting when they were put in on a moist strip.

Not surprisingly, it only took the Windies eight balls to make the breakthrough as Oronde Bascome (one) went cheaply after dragging a delivery from seamer Darren Powell onto his stumps.

Fast bowler Jerome Taylor then tightened the Windies' grip at the other end when he sent Jekon Edness' off-stump cartwheeling after a potent away-swinger found its intended target to leave Bermuda tottering at 15 for two.

But Bermuda showed plenty of character with the in-form Chris Douglas (53) leading a fightback that saw the youngster dominate two partnerships that stitched the innings back together. The 18-year-old all-rounder put on a timely 28 runs with Stephen Outerbridge (five) and then added another 36 runs with skipper Romaine (20).

Romaine was in ominous form and seemed destined for a big knock before he was given out, caught behind by wicketkeeper Carlton Baugh, though the dark purple bruise on his left shoulder suggested otherwise.

Lionel Cann (17) also looked set before he was stumped dancing down the crease to Miller shortly after belting three fours.

Outerbridge, who has struggled for form since scoring a maiden first class century against Scotland last month, also threw his wicket away hooking a short-pitched delivery from seamer Kemar Roach that would've been best left alone.

However, in young Douglas the Windies ran into a brick wall as the aggressive left-handed bat continued his one-man assault on the bowling, twice flicking Powell off his pads down to the fine leg boundary and then whipping Roach to long on with consummate ease.

Douglas again showed his senior team-mates how it's done under pressure and his second successive half-century, which arrived off 98 balls in 82 minutes, would've cemented his place in Bermuda's squad for the upcoming Intercontinental Cup match against Namibia.

The Warwick man, who has turned heads in Toronto on this tour, hit six fours during his 105 ball innings and also added 25 runs with a stubborn Leverock (20) who saw to it that the Windies would not enjoy the satisfaction of bowling out Bermuda in their innings.

In reply, the Windies lost opener Xavier Marshall (0) with only one run on the board and then lost three additional wickets in the space of 59 runs to rekindle Bermuda's hopes of pulling off an upset of David and Goliath proportions.

But unlike the biblical version of the story there would be no happy ending for Bermuda as Sarwan, who lashed five fours and a six off 58 balls, and Nash dropped anchor and saw off the threat.

Delyone Borden, the Bermuda off spinner, snatched two for 38 to lead his team's attack.

The West Indies will now take on hosts Canada in Sunday's final at King City while Bermuda will remain in Toronto until next Tuesday to continue their preparations for the upcoming four day match against Namibia on home soil.