BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, (CMC):

A KEEN contest is expected when reigning champions Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica square off in the final of the KFC Cup today at the Three Ws Oval.

The day/night match starting at 12:45 p.m. (Jamaica time) is a battle involving two unbeaten teams and most pundits are predicting it will be an exciting affair. T&T, winners of the Cup in February this year, qualified for the final after their semi-final match against Barbados was abandoned without a ball being bowled because of unfit conditions caused by heavy early morning rain.

Captain Daren Ganga expects the final will be a close battle.

"It's going to be a very competitive game," Ganga said yesterday. "As defending champions and us being to the final for the second consecutive year, it's very important for us to maintain our consistency.

"Jamaica have shown they are a very competitive side. They have dominated their preliminary round and their semi-final. That is something we will take into account.

"One of the good things is that they have not been pushed to the line. We don't know how they will respond to that. We're just trying to make sure that we can control what we can do and that is play proper cricket."

On the way to the semi-finals, T&T played to a tie with Combined Campuses and College (CCC) before beating Windward Islands by seven wickets and Guyana by four wickets.

Jamaica were also unbeaten in progressing to the final four, defeating Leeward Islands by six wickets, West Indies Under-19s by nine wickets, and Barbados by six wickets in the preliminaries before triumphing over Guyana by seven wickets in the first semi-final.

Upbeat

Captain Chris Gayle is upbeat that Jamaica can clinch their first regional limited-overs title since 1999.

"We are pretty confident," Gayle said. "To reach the final is always pleasing. We want to continue in the same vein that we have been playing and finish on a high.

"To be honest, we are underdogs. They are the defending champions, so we are looking forward to the final. It is something that I've stressed on from the start of the tournament," he said.

"We hadn't qualified for the semi-finals for three to four years. Now we have the opportunity, we are trying to grab it with both hands."

After consistent rain over the past few days, officials are hopeful that the skies will remain clear.

After Friday's washout, there was improved weather yesterday with conditions generally fair in the morning but overcast by evening.

In the event that no result is possible, the teams will be declared joint-champions.

Teams:

TRINIDAD & TOBAGO (from): Daren Ganga, Lendl Simmons, Mario Belcon, Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard, Denesh Ramdin, Sherwin Ganga, Jason Mohammed, Rayad Emrit, Mervyn Dillon, Ravi Rampaul, Amit Jaggernauth, Samuel Badree, Andre Browne.

JAMAICA (from): Chris Gayle (captain), Brenton Parchment, Xavier Marshall, Shawn Findlay, Brendan Nash, Danza Hyatt, Tamar Lambert, Carlton Baugh, Daren Powell, Donovan Sinclair, Nikita Miller, Jerome Taylor, Andrew Richardson, Krishmar Santokie.