Jermaine Lannaman, Gleaner Writer

St. Elizabeth all-rounder Damian Ebanks (left) prepares to catch St. Catherine's Danza Hyatt during their JCA All-Island Limited Overs semi-final match at Kensington Oval yesterday. - Ian Allen/Staff Photographer

TITLE HOLDERS Melbourne and St Catherine CC will contest the final of the JCA All-Island Limited Overs cricket competition after recording contrasting semi-final victories over Portland and St Elizabeth at Kensington Park and Chedwin Park yesterday.

Melbourne, led by two-wicket hauls from pacers Sheldon 'Goaty' Smith and Dave Johnson and spinners Nikita 'Killa' Miller and Damion Jacobs, defeated surprise semi-finalists Portland by nine wickets, while St. Catherine CC, spearheaded by skipper Keith Hibbert and pacer Aaron Daley Jr, got the better of St Elizabeth by one-wicket in a nail-biting encounter.

melbourne victorious

In the Melbourne-Portland match-up, Melbourne vindicated their pre-match favouritism when they took care of their opponents before lunch, courtesy of an inept batting display by the men from eastern Jamaica.

Winning the toss and electing to field, Smith, 2-27, Johnson, 2-11, Miller, 2-2, and Jacobs, 2-12, bowled with accuracy and precision to dismiss Portland for 56. In reply, Melbourne cruised to their victory target at 57-1. Donovan Pagon, 29 not out, and Damian Henry, 24 not out, made the most runs for the victors.

did well

"I think we did really well and applied ourselves," said Melbourne captain Carlton Baugh. "The pitch was not a 100 per cent as it did not play as well as it looked ... it held up and spun a lot. But having said that, we had to go out and get the job done, and that we did. We now turn our attention to the final where we will be looking to defend our title," he said.

While the Melbourne-Portland match provided little excitement, it was a totally different scenario at Chedwin Park as spectators were kept on the edge of their seats throughout what was an epic encounter.

Sent in to bat, St Elizabeth were bowled out for 160 with West Indies representatives Shawn Findlay and Brenton Parchment getting 67 and 31 respectively and Howard Powell 24. This against pacers Daley Jr and Andre Russell, 4-25 and 2-25, and offspinner, Bevon Brown, 2-41.

Set a modest total to win, in-form St. Catherine almost made a hash of it, as from a dominant position of 89-1, and a relatively stable position of 144-5, they lost wickets regularly to be at 145-8 and 155-9, and it was not until a misfield off the second ball of the final over that they were able to achieve victory.

"St Catherine is a team that is used to winning big occasion matches and in the end our experience paid off," said St. Catherine vice captain Tamar Lambert. "It was a good all-round team effort as we bowled well and when we batted persons chipped in at key moments.

tougher opposition

"We will now have to get our act together as Melbourne will be much tougher opposition in the final," he said.

Captain Hibbert top scored for St Catherine with 50 while there were also effective contributions from Damion Bryce, 25, Shacoya Thomas, 15, and Lambert, 14. Offspinners Powell, 3-5, and Wayne Simpson, 2-26, were St Elizabeth's most successful bowlers.

The final will be played next weekend at Sabina Park.