DESPITE SHAKY batting displays in their last two matches, the St Catherine Saints are beaming with confidence ahead of today's clash at Sabina Park.

In last weekend's semi-final, St Catherine, chasing a small 161 for victory against St Elizabeth, won by one wicket with five deliveries to spare.

Also, the week before, against Manchester, they lost seven wickets chasing 71 to win.

But Keith Hibbert, the team's acting captain, said they were not too concerned going into today's final game.

"We know our strength and our ability. Once you are a winner, you know how to win games, so I would not say that (we are shaky)," Hibbert said."The pitch (for the Manchester game) wasn't all that good, but we did not play to our true potential. Against St Elizabeth, the same thing happened, but experience took us through," he said.

Class players

St Catherine sport some class players in Danza Hyatt, Tamar Lambert, Bevon Brown, Odean Brown, Andre Russell and Shacoya Thomas and Hibbert promised Melbourne not to expect a repeat of the last two weekends.

"Come this weekend, it's going to be a different story," he said while hoping "we can put things together".

He again warned Melbourne "expect a tough game ... Come prepared to play hard, competitive cricket."If we put everything together, there is nobody stopping us," he said.

- A.F.

MELBOURNE'S COACH, Courtney Walsh, expects a competitive final against St Catherine today, but said his team is ready for any challenge.

"St Catherine have always played very well against Melbourne ... Melbourne have always played very well against St Catherine, so it's going to be very, very close," predicted Walsh, who watched St Catherine CC beat St Elizabeth at Kensington Park last weekend.Walsh said he is confident in his team, as it "has been playing some very, very good cricket this season" and he believes "once we continue in that vain, I think we should give a very good account of ourselves".

Melbourne boast three players - wicketkeeper/batsman Carlton Baugh, batsman Donovan Pagon and spinner Nikita Miller - with West Indies one-day or Test experience.

"We have depth, the team has experience, the team has ability and potential, and I think if we play to our game plan and true potential, we are going to be very, very hard to beat," added Walsh, who said playing a class team such as St Catherine "you can never take anything for granted"."The team that turns up better on the day will play the better cricket. Melbourne is known for that and I know they are going to give a good account of themselves," he concluded.

- A.F.

HOW THEY GOT THERE

St Catherine CC 285-5 (50 overs - Junior Stewart 108; Ian McLeod 4-61) beat St Mary 137 (32 overs) (Bevon Brown 4-31, Aaron Daley 4-39) by 148 runs.

Police 156 (45.2 overs) lost to St. Catherine CC 158-5 (36.3 overs) by five wickets.

St Catherine CC 287-8 (50 overs - Herman Henry 5-55) Portland 129 (31.1 overs - (Odean Brown 5-27) by 158 runs.

Kingston 94 (39.4 overs - Bevon Brown 4-11) lost to St Catherine CC 100-3 (21 overs) by seven wickets.

St Catherine CC 218 (35 overs) beat Kingston & St Andrew 65 (23.5 overs) by 153 runs

Manchester 71 (28 overs) lost to St Catherine CC 72-7 (27 overs) by three wickets.

St Elizabeth 160 (42.5 overs - Aaron Daley 4-24) lost to St Catherine CC 161-9 (49.1 overs) by one wicket.

Melbourne 248 (50 overs - Donovan Pagon 95) beat Lucas 160 (44.3 overs) by 88 runs.

St Thomas 167 (48.5 overs) lost to Melbourne 168-2 (33.5 overs) by eight wickets.

Melbourne 307-8 (50 overs - Damion Henry 100) beat Kensington 241-9 (50 overs) by 66 runs

Boys' Town 97 (28.5 overs - Yanick Elliott 4-36) lost to Melbourne 98-3 (19.2 overs) by seven wickets.

JDF 161 (46.5 overs - Sheldon Smith 5-29, Damion Jacobs 4-39) lost Melbourne 163-7 (41.3 overs) by three wickets.

Melbourne 357-7 (50 overs - Carlton Baugh 102, Damion Henry 95) beat Westmoreland 141 (31.1 overs - Sheldon Smith 4-64) by 216 runs.