The final round of preliminary matches in the inaugural Jamaica Premier League (JPL) Twenty20 (T20) tournament will be played this weekend as teams in Zones A and B jostle for semi-final spots.

Zone B leaders Half-Way-Tree Sparks, with two wins in as many matches, are set to clash with Ocho Rios Chargers in today’s 9:30 am opening match at Noranda Bauxite in Discovery Bay.

The Half-Way-Tree team, boasting captain Nikita Miller and Yannick Elliott, will start favourites to win the match and seal top spot in the zone. Ocho Rios, with out-of-favour West Indies batsman Xavier Marshall and pacer Ricardo Dacres in their line-up, have a record of a win and a loss so far and need to win to have a chance of advancing.

In the second match at the venue, starting at 1:30 pm, the University Dynamites meet the Mo-Bay Sixers in Zone A. The contest for teams advancing in Zone A has been particularly close with each losing one and winning one so far.

The final round action will continue tomorrow with Kingston Hurricanes opposing Zone B competitors Spanish Town Titans in the 9:30 am curtain-raiser at the Chedwin Park ground, while in Zone A, May Pen Earthquakes challenge Mandeville Thunder in the 1:30 pm feature.

The semi-finals and finals are scheduled to be played at the Trelawny Multi-purpose Stadium next weekend.

The three-week championship is sponsored by the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) through the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF) and sees the eight newly-formed franchises competing for the $700,000 top prize.

The runners-up are set to take home $500,000, while the man-of-the-tournament will pocket $50,000.