Samuels wants to end regional season on a high

Head coach Robert Samuels is hopeful that the Jamaica Scorpions can defeat title contenders Barbados Pride and end the Digicel-WICB Regional Four-day Tournament on a high.

The match will be played at Kensington Oval in Barbados and will be one of three in the 10th and final round.

The Nikita Miller-captained Scorpions will be looking to come out on top in a bid to clinch at least second spot in the six-team championship.

Currently, the Scorpions are in third position on 98.6 points, 6.6 points behind second place Barbados, and 12.2 points behind leaders and two-time defending champions the Guyana Jaguars, who also have a game in hand.

"To end the season on a high is important to us," said Samuels. "We made some errors at the start of the second half of the tournament, and that seriously affected our chances of winning the tournament.

"But to better our position from last season when we came third, is important for me as a coach and that is what we will be aiming for."

Jamaica who led the first half of the tournament after rounds of matches, were upstaged by the Windward Islands Volcanoes by eight wickets in their last encounter in St Vincent.

The loss, which came inside three days, represented the Scorpions' third defeat in four matches since the start of the return leg of fixtures.

Heading into the Pride contest the Jamaicans will be hoping to recover from their record-equalling lowest ever total of 56 against the Windwards.

To remedy this, they will be hoping that the opening pair John Campbell and Trevon Griffith can improve on their last showings, as well as top and middle-order batsmen Jermaine Blackwood, Paul Palmer Jr and Devon Thomas.

Wicketkeeper and batsman Chadwick Walton, who missed the Volcanoes match-up due to West Indies duties, is also expected to add strength to the batting.

"The team has a number of young players due to varying reasons, and the challenge is always for them to stamp their class. That has not been happening with alacrity in recent times, but I am confident that over time they will deliver," Samuels said.

Jamaica Scorpions (from) - Nikita Miller (captain), John Campbell, Paul Palmer Jr, Jermaine Blackwood, Fabian Allen, Oraine Williams, Pete Salmon, Devon Thomas, Chadwick Walton, Dennis Bulli, Jerome Taylor, Derval Green, Trevon Griffith.