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Under normal circumstances, it would have been marked down as a meaningless victory at the end of a series already decided.

But against the background of five successive losses, the type of uncontrollable West Indian celebrations that unfolded at the Arnos Vale Playing Field here yesterday evening typified those of a nation celebrating the capture of a World Cup final.

As it became obvious the West Indies would finally end their depressing sequence of defeats, Vincentians could not contain their overflowing emotions. They jumped, waved, danced, gyrated and screamed themselves hoarse. And when the impressive Marlon Samuels hit the winning runs, there was the inevitable invasion of hundreds of overzealous fans.

They couldn't care less that South Africa had won the Cable & Wireless One-Day International series by the emphatic margin of 5-2; they were simply ecstatic that West Indies had finally won a match for the first time since the series opener on April 28.

We are under no illusions. At the end of the day, 5-2 is still the scoreline, West Indies captain Carl Hooper said after his team surpassed a modest target of 163 for the loss of four wickets with 5.2 overs in hand.

It's good to win and I hope that we can play like we played today (yesterday) on a more consistent basis.

It's just a shame that we couldn't put in this performance in four or five games.

Samuels, given the responsibility of the No 4 position, fashioned an unbeaten 54 that included a couple of authentic off-side strokes and featured in a decisive unbeaten fifth-wicket partnership of 62 with Shivnarine Chanderpaul.

By then, support had swelled appreciably from the modest crowd that was in the stands when the first ball was bowled.

West Indies enjoyed their best opening stand since the second match and were making encouraging progress before Daren Ganga was run out because of Chris Gayle's reluctance to come through for what appeared to be a comfortable single.

By then, Gayle was in sparkling form with a series of extra-cover drives, the last of which was followed by his dismissal from the next ball. At 92 for two, the West Indies were in the ascendancy, but the match was back on even keel in the next few overs.

Any side which gains the important wickets of Brian Lara and Carl Hooper in quick succession will always feel they have a chance of running through the West Indies' batting, and South Africa would have thought no differently.

Justin Kemp claimed both batsmen, but most of the credit for the double-strike must go to Herschelle Gibbs. By his impeccable standards, there was nothing spectacular about his low catch at cover that dismissed Lara, but hardly anyone else in world cricket could have leapt in the manner he did to pull down Hooper's lofted cover- drive with his right hand.

In the end, South Africa needed more.

It is a disappointing end to the series, said captain Shaun Pollock.

We would have liked to gone out on a winning note. It was probably too much at the end to ask of the guys. Having lost that many wickets in the early part was always going to make it difficult to set a competitive score.

For the second successive match, the West Indies bowlers did an admirable job after South Africa chose to bat on a pitch on which strokeplay was never easy.

Hometown boy Cameron Cuffy was South Africa's chief tormentor, but the spin of Neil McGarrell, Hooper and Samuels also proved effective and economical.

South Africa were pegged back by the loss of four wickets inside the first 15 overs and not even Jacques Kallis' hard-fought 69 and his useful partnerships with Jonty Rhodes and Mark Boucher were enough to raise a challening total.

The ground was not packed at the start of the day, but you would have felt it was because of the huge roars that greeted each of Cuffy's three wickets.

Cuffy has been the one consistent West Indies fast bowler throughout the series and, fired up by the emotions of his first international match on home soil, he again delivered ten successive outstanding overs in which he dismissed Gibbs, Justin Ontong and Neil McKenzie.

The quality of the fielding was also impressive.

Corey Collymore accepted a high, swirling catch at long-leg that accounted for Gibbs.

But it was Daren Ganga's stupendous right-handed effort at backward square-leg from one that travelled rapidly off Gary Kirsten's bat that was the catch that will long be remembered.

© The Barbados Nation