Final four showdown tomorrow in SDC Community T20

The Ultimate Cricket Ground in St Ann is set to come alive tomorrow as the defending champions Fairfield of Manchester are set to clash with Whitehouse of Westmoreland, while Junction Ballards Valley of St Elizabeth will lock horns with Links United of St Ann in the highly anticipated semi-finals of the Social Development Commission’s (SDC) National Community T20 Cricket Competition.

Fairfield are gunning to retain their title after securing an 18-run victory over Bridgeport in their quarter-final at Chedwin Park last Sunday. Oshane Walters came up big as he contributed 33 runs, while Zidane Gordon added 28 in helping Fairfield post a total of 145.

In response, Bridgeport were restricted to 127, thanks to an excellent bowling performance from Romario Marshall, who took three for 21, and Roshawn McKenzie, who chipped in with two for 33. Jamie Haye of Kensington Cricket Club was a standout for Bridgeport, taking four for 25.

Player/Manager of Fairfield, Leighton Leslie, says his team will play the type of cricket that has brought them success.

“To make it back to the final, we need to continue to play our brand of cricket centred around playing as a team. We need to have our roles defined and play for each other and play the game session by session and over by over,” Leslie said.

In the meantime, Junction Ballards Valley punched their ticket into the final four after delivering a dominant performance by defeating Troy of Trelawny by 10 wickets.

Lennox Simpson’s four for 12 and former West Indies pacer Darren Powell with three for eight dismissed Troy for just 43. Junction needed only 4.3 overs to reach the target, with Howard Powell scoring 20 and Craig Walters remaining unbeaten on 18.

Junction’s captain Damion Ebanks is banking on his veteran unit to come up trumps against their St Ann opponents.

“We have been playing some good cricket and, for the semi-final, I expect the same. Our guys know what is at stake and we are ready,” Ebanks said.

Whitehouse’s run to the semi-finals came after they edged Richmond Park by six runs. Links United secured their semi-final spot by defeating Gayle of St Mary by seven wickets.