AN enthralling contest will be on the cards when Tacky High take on St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) in the Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association/TVJ Super 8 Twenty20 (T20) cricket final this afternoon at Sir P Oval in Clarendon.

Start time is scheduled for 2:30 pm.

In the semi-finals at Sabina Park in Kingston on Wednesday, Tacky High defeated Clarendon College by 61 runs after making 128 and then restricting their opponents to 67-8.

In the other semi-final contest, St Elizabeth Technical got the better of Manchester High by eight wickets, easing to 77-2 in reply to their major rivals’ score of 76 all out.

STETHS and Tacky were drawn in the same preliminary group of the Super 8 competition but had to share the spoils after rain forced the abandonment of their clash.

STETHS Head Coach Carl Wright told the Jamaica Observer he expects a keen battle against the St Mary-based school in the final.

“We are coming up against a very good opponent so we are expecting a good final but, hopefully, we can come out victorious. The chance is there for us but we just have to seize it,” he said.

He noted that his team has rebounded well after Manchester High got the better of them en route to winning both the rural Grace Headley Cup and T20 competitions weeks ago. Notably, STETHS had previously beaten Manchester earlier in the Headley Cup campaign.

“I definitely think the guys have recovered well from losing out against Manchester and have put that behind them, and we have done very well in the Super 8.

“I think the youngsters have done fairly well. Manchester is a good team and it took a very great collective effort from all the players to win the semi-final match,” he said.

Sheldon Pryce, the Tacky head coach, suggested that his team is ticking the boxes at the right time.

“This bunch of young athletes is enjoying working hard at their individual games to be the best version of themselves… a great deal of T20 cricket is played in St Mary, therefore the confidence and camaraderie cause this Tacky team to gel as a unit,” he said.

Pryce said the plan is to apply tight pressure in the field after “coming up a bit short” when they batted first.

“Setting a plan and sticking to that plan throughout was what we did well in that semi-final match,” he explained.

The final is to be preceded by a third-place encounter between Manchester and Clarendon College, and an exhibition match featuring Grace Shield Masters and Headley Cup Masters. Both matches will be 15 overs per side.