Windwards-Leewards showdown

Jermaine Lannaman, Gleaner Writer

Newly appointed West Indies captain, the Windward Islands' Darren Sammy, will today seek to lead his team into the final of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) regional 50-over tournament, when they play the Leeward Islands in the first of two semi-finals, at Sabina Park.

The second semi-final, an anticipated mouth-watering affair between Jamaica and Barbados, will be played tomorrow at the Trelawny Multi-purpose Stadium.

Both clashes are slated to begin at 9 a.m. The final is set for Sabina Park on Sunday.

Sammy, who last weekend was named captain of the West Indies for their tour of Sri Lanka next month, and until the end of next year's Digicel Home Series, will be looking to guide the Windwards to their fourth successive win of the campaign, after recording impressive victories against Jamaica, the Combined Campuses and Colleges, and dethroned champions Trinidad and Tobago in the preliminary round.

In addition to Sammy, the players expected to lead the Windwards charge are opener Devon Smith, off-spinner Shane Shillingford and fast bowler Nelon Pascal, all of whom have been included in the West Indies' team for the tour of Sri Lanka.

"We are playing good cricket and we hope to continue doing so in the semi-finals and beyond," said Sammy.

"We have not won the competition since 2000-01 and it would be good for the people of the Windwards if we could take home the title this time around," he added.

Riding fortunes

The Leewards, without a player on either the current West Indies or West Indies 'A' teams, will be looking to ride their fortunes thus far after progressing to the semi-finals following a loss to Barbados, a no-result against the WICB-Sagicor High Performance Centre in a rain-hit contest, and in another rain-affected match, they beat Guyana by 14 runs - under the Duckworth- Lewis Method - in the group stages.

The Leewards will be led by captain, veteran Wilden Cornwall, and discarded West Indies representatives off-spinner Omari Banks and fast bowlers Lionel Baker and Gavin Tonge.

"We do not have any star players at the moment, but the Leewards are playing good, basic cricket and once we continue to do so, we should be competitive against the Windwards," said Cornwall.

"Cricket is a funny game and anything can happen on the day. So the aim is to play to the best of our abilities and see what happens from there."