Mad rush for semi-final spots

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC):

Attention will be centred especially on two games this weekend when the final round of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Regional Four-Day Championship bowls off across the region.

That is because the four teams involved will all be competing for the three semi-final spots still up for grabs.

Barbados, third in the standings on 36 points, face Windward Islands, who are fifth on 28 points, at the National Stadium in Grenada.

Fourth-placed Trinidad and Tobago on 34 points will travel to St Kitts to take on Leeward Islands, who are jointly at the bottom of the tables with Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) on 12 points and have no chance of reaching the final four.

The other game featuring Jamaica and CCC at the 3Ws Oval in Barbados will be of academic interest as Jamaica, the runaway leaders on 60 points, have already qualified, while CCC are also out of the running.

Guyana, in second place on 39 points, will sit out the round with a bye, but will nervously keep a close eye on how the games play out to see of they will be around for the penultimate phase of the competition.

Both Barbados and the Windward Islands made big strides towards the semi-finals last weekend, when they won their matches handily inside three days to collect full points.

Barbados crushed the Leewards by an innings and seven runs, while the Windwards edged CCC by 22 runs.

Guyana, however, could only get three points out of their contest with T&T, after playing to a draw.

Standings