JCA 50-over: Top teams hunt semi-final spots

The final eight teams in this year’s Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) All-Island Limited overs (50-over) competition will battle today for semi-final spots, with Melbourne CC, Police, St Ann and St James aiming to protect their unbeaten records in this year’s competition.

Pool Four winners Melbourne will square off with Pool Two runners-up Manchester at Melbourne Oval, with Pool Two winners St Ann hosting Pool Three runners-up St Thomas at Noranda.

The other quarter-final matchup will feature Pool Three winners Police hosting Pool One runners-up St Elizabeth at Elletson Road, while Pool One winners St James will host Pool Four runners-up Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) at the Trelawny Multi-purpose Stadium.

The Melbourne/Manchester clash will see the hosts starting as favourites, with the Javelle Glenn-led side banking on their national players to deliver the goods.

National all-rounder Abhijai Mansingh is expected to factor with the ball as his 13 wickets in five matches has him fourth in the wicket-taking column, with his teammate Shalom Parnell second in the bowling department with 15 wickets and 203 runs in five innings to boot.

Manchester will rely on Jamaine Morgan to get them a hefty total, while national Under-19 captain Brad Barnes is expected to be a factor with both ball and bat.

The high-riding Police have been one of the most enterprising teams in the competition, and their batting has been on fire with the likes of Jahmarie Martin and Shamarie Lindo both scoring more than 200 runs in five innings.

Their opponents St Elizabeth will hope that in-form batter Howard Powell can add to his 180 runs scored so far.

St Ann have played some good consistent cricket to chalk up four wins, and they will bank on Damion Bryce to lead both their batting and bowling charge.

Their bowling unit will have to be on point against their opponents St Thomas who have in their ranks the tournament’s leading run scorer in West Indies batsman Nkrumah Bonner, who has racked up 534 runs in five innings, including three centuries and two half centuries. Pacer Keno Wallace is expected to be the trump card with the ball for the men from the east.

Meanwhile, Andrew Walker of St James will be hoping that he can continue in his wicket-taking ways, as his 16 scalps lead all bowlers in the competition. His skills will surely be tested against a competent JDF batting line-up that includes national batsman Tevin Gilzene, who has scored the second most runs in the tournament with 280 in five innings. National spinner Dennis Bulli, along with Jamaica fast bowler Gordon Bryan, is expected to lead the bowling charge for the army men.