MELBOURNE CC and St Elizabeth booked their places in the semi-final of the JCA/JAM Twenty20 after victories in quarter-final matches yesterday at Kensington Park.

Melbourne recorded a comfortable five-wicket win over Kingston, thanks to a blistering unbeaten 46 from West Indies wicketkeeper/batsman Carlton Baugh Jnr and an outstanding all-round showing from captain Yannick Elliott.

Scores: Kingston 128-8 (20 overs); Melbourne 129-5 (18.2 overs).

Winning the toss and electing to bat, Kingston struggled against Melbourne’s spinners and were restricted to 128-8 off their allotted 20 overs.

Wicketkeeper/batsman Chadwick Walton topscored with a run-a-ball 25 before being dismissed by spinner Nikita Miller. Opener Andre Bryce (22), Brian Latore (23) and Andrew Richardson (22) also got starts, but failed to capitalise. Kingston’s captain and ace batsman Simon Jackson made just 10.

Elliott, with his accurate off-spin bowling, was the chief destroyer with 4-13 off four overs. Miller ended with 2-18 off four, while Christopher Lamont and Andre McCarthy took a wicket each.

In reply, Melbourne suffered the early losses of openers Jon Ross Campbell (seven) and Damion Jacobs (15), along with middle-order batsmen McCarthy (seven) and Donovan Pagon (one) before the pair of Baugh and Elliott steadied the innings.

The diminutive Baugh scorched four sixes and two boundaries off 22 balls, while Elliott capped off a fine individual effort in scoring an assured 43 off 42 balls.

National pacer Andrew Richardson took 2-34 off four overs, while left-arm spinners Paul Harrison and Frederick Hermitt took a wicket each. Medium-pacer Garth Garvey also took a wicket.

In the second match at the venue, side-lined national opener Brenton Parchment smashed a half-century to guide St Elizabeth to a tense 13-run win over Hanover.

Scores: St Elizabeth 155-9 (20 overs); Hanover 142-9 (20 overs)

The weekend’s other quarter-final fixtures are scheduled to be played today, also at Kensington Park with at St Catherine CC vs Westmoreland at 9:30 and St Ann vs Manchester at 1:30 pm.

The semi-finals and championship matches are slated for next weekend at the Ultimate Cricket ground in St Ann.