Kensington look to continue march towards semis

Jermaine Lannaman, Gleaner Writer

Kensington will seek to all but secure a spot in the semi-finals of the Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) Senior Cup when they play away to mid-table contenders Kingston and St Andrew at Maxfield Park today and tomorrow, action beginning at 10 a.m. both days.

Kensington lead Group A with 16 points, one more than St Thomas, who will host Portland - who have seven points - at Goodyear Oval, in the group's other marquee matchup.

Lucas (10) will play St Catherine CA (6) at Nelson Oval in the other fixture. Boys' Town (1) have drawn a bye.

"All we need to do now is to win our last two games outright and we will be in the semi-finals," said a confident-sounding David Bernard Sr, coach of Kensington.

"Our spinners Bulli (Dennis) and Dewar (Akeem) have been bowling well and lead the bowling standings, and our batsmen David (Bernard Jr), wicketkeeper Jeffery Scott and Maurice Kepple have been consistent."

St Thomas, who defeated Kensington outright two rounds ago but went down to a surprise outright defeat to St Catherine Cricket Association in their last outing, will be looking to rebound, a task coach Ian Lynch believes is highly possible.

"I think St Thomas is not yet fully used to the position that we are in, in terms of being at the top of the standings, and are a little bit hyped up and complacent," said Lynch.

"But we are addressing this and, hopefully, with the quality players in our line-up we can win this competition."

Opportunity to lead

In Group B, leaders Clarendon, who are on 18 points, have drawn a bye this round, thus presenting second-place Jamaica Defence Force (JDF), on 13 points, with an opportunity to take the lead for the first time this season.

The JDF will play away to St Mary (8) at Eden Garden, third-place Hanover (10) will travel to Jarrett Park to face St James, and G.C. Foster (10) will host Police (1) in the group's other games.

The soldiers are keen on gaining promotion and believe they are hitting peak form.

"The team is gelling and peaking at the right time. They have told themselves that they are not going to stay in this division any longer, and with Wayne Cuff as player-coach it is paying off." said JDF manager Steve Wallace.