HOSTS Jamaica will aim to reach their first regional One-Day final since 2007 when they take on a confident Barbados team in the second semi-final of the West Indies Cricket Board’s (WICB) 50-overs competition at Sabina Park, starting at 9:00 am today.

In an interesting twist yesterday, the WICB decided to have the match played at Sabina instead of the originally scheduled venue at the Trelawny Multi-Purpose Stadium due to forecasted torrential rain across northern sections of the island.

Barbados were left with the unenviable task of travelling by bus back to Kingston after spending the past few days in Trelawny since they played their final group match there against the Sagicor High Performance Centre team on Tuesday.

While not as dominant in regional cricket as they were decades ago, the Bajans topped Group B and remain a formidable force with a strong batting line-up built around captain Ryan Hinds, Dale Richards, Kirk Edwards and Kevin Stoute.

They also have a competent fastbowling attack led by the in-form Tino Best and young pacer Kemar Roach. Lanky West Indies left-arm slow bowler Suliemen Benn and Hinds could also prove a handful on a surface likely to produce spin and bounce.

Potentially, the Jamaicans also have a powerful batting team boasting the likes of Chris Gayle, Xavier Marshall, Danza Hyatt, Brendan Nash and Carlton Baugh Jnr.

In the bowling department, left-arm swing bowler Krishmar Santokie and spinners Odean Brown and Nikita Miller are expected to feature prominently.

Though Jamaica started the tournament with a disappointing loss to the Windward Islands, they rebounded with an emphatic win over the Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) in the final Group A match to progress as the second-placed team.

Coach Junior Bennett is expecting another strong showing as he believes things have finally fallen into place.

“We want to go out and play good, consistent cricket against Barbados… I think we got it together in our last game, so we would just want to build on that and continue to play well,” he said.

Late yesterday evening, members of the ground staff were busy preparing an adjacent batting strip to the one used in the Leeward Islands-Windward Islands match earlier in the day.

If rain forces a no-result today, based on the rules of the competition, Barbados would progress to the final due to their superior points tally in the group stage.

While hoping the rain does not intervene, Bennett — whose team played their last two group games in Kingston — said Jamaaica have not been adversely affected by the change of venue.

“The change of venue doesn’t matter, really, but we’re hoping that the weather is kind for tomorrow’s game. But we’re not too concerned about where the game will be played,” he said.

The winners of this match will face the Leewards in the championship match on Sunday, also at Sabina.