Granville, Kensington in rescheduled semi

Western Bureau:

The high-riding Kensington and the resolute Granville will once again be taking aim at a place in the finals of the 2011 St James SDC Twenty20 cricket competition today when they meet in their re-scheduled semi-final game at the Spot Valley High School in St James, starting at 10 a.m.

The winners of today's game, which is expected to be an epic showdown, will meet Farm Heights, who qualified last week at the expense of Arcadia CC, in tomorrow's final, which is also slated for the same venue.

When Kensington and Granville met last week in the original fixture, heavy rains at the Orange Community Centre forced a premature end to the game. Kensington, who were batting first, were struggling at 94 runs for seven wickets after 14 overs at the time of the interruption.

Prior to the rain-hit second game, Farm Heights were masterful in their game against Arcadia, scoring an emphatic 57-run win to seal their place in tomorrow's final.

"We are anticipating an exciting weekend of cricket as the both the rescheduled semi-final for Saturday (today) and tomorrow's final should produce very good cricket," said St James SDC sports officer Yvette Malcolm, the competition's coordinator. "We are just hoping the fans will turn out to support the games."

High hopes

Prior to the rains last week, Granville were seemingly in control against Kensington as only Clive Blackella and Calbert Plummer, who each got 16 runs, were able to cope with their disciplined bowling attack.

For today's game, Kensington will be hoping that their star batsmen Robert Johnson and Damion Douglas will figure prominently, and that Blackella and Plummer will again come good.

For their part, the Granville team, which has been somewhat inconsistent, will be hoping that their star batsman, the classy Nigel Williams, will provide the inspiration required by his teammates, as it is unlikely that he can single-handedly win the match with his explosive batting.

In their march into the final, Farm Heights were ruthless in their semi-final game against Arcadia, as after they amassed 185 runs for just one wicket off 14 overs, they blew away their opponents for a mere 128 all out.

Dalton James, with a brilliant, unbeaten 85, skipper Samuel Evans, an unbeaten 49; and Ramon Manderson, who got 28, were the outstanding batsmen for Farm Heights.

In their reply, Arcadia's only signs of real resistance came from Gavin Murray and Carlos Williams, who got 35 and 34 runs, respectively. Fitzroy Perrier did the damage for Farm Heights, bagging three wickets for 27 runs off four overs.

- A.F.