TITLE-HOLDERS Excelsior High and back-to-back finalists St Jago High are both buoyant entering the ISSA/First Global Bank Grace Shield urban cricket final at Chedwin Park in St Catherine.

The three-day contest is scheduled to begin this morning.

Excelsior, who beat St Jago in the lopsided Grace Shield final last year, go into this season’s championship match chock-full of confidence, after defeating Jamaica College by a mammoth 443 runs in last week’s semi-final.

After batting first, Excelsior made 189 and 377-5 declared, while Jamaica College were bowled out for measly scores of 65 and 58.

Excelsior’s Demarco Scott scored 100 not out in the second innings and captured 11 wickets in the match highlighted by six for seven runs, while Nicoli McKenzie, younger brother of Jamaica and West Indies batsman Kirk, made 51 and 101.

Kirkland Bailey, the Excelsior head coach, told the Jamaica Observer that the semi-final provided an appropriate stepping stone for his team.

“It’s good that the batters had to bat under a bit of pressure in the Jamaica College game, so it will put us in good stead to handle the rigours of a final,” he said.

“We have been bowling well — no team has made 100 runs against us in the Grace Shield thus far — so we just want to keep them in the right frame of mind to do well against St Jago,” Bailey said.

He noted that Spanish Town-based St Jago will virtually have home field advantage at Chedwin Park, but it is a challenge that he welcomes.

“The game will be played pretty much in St Jago’s backyard but we are confident that we can go there and do well because this team has always done well under pressure. We expect that St Jago will offer their best effort as well but the management team and the boys are confident that if we play some of our better cricket we should defend the title,” reasoned the Excelsior coach.

Bailey said the team will continue to be without leg-spinner Tamarie Redwood, who sensationally took seven wickets in an innings on his national senior team debut in February. After previously being ruled out due to registration “issues”, Redwood was said to have suffered a toe injury in a recent Senior Cup match.

St Jago head coach Joseph Lemmie, who watched his team being dominated in the 2023 final by Wolmer’s Boys’ and again by Excelsior last year, is aiming to claim the top prize this season.

St Jago proved to be too strong for Campion College in last week’s semi-final, winning by eight wickets after initially surrendering first-innings advantage.

Campion, who batted first, scored 222 and 76 all out, while St Jago made 129 and 172-2.

Captain Vitel Lawes led St Jago with 14 wickets in the match, including 7-28 in the second innings, while Ralique Thomas and Wayne Plummer piloted their victory chase with knocks of 70 not out and 49.

Lemmie conceded that his team was guilty of complacency in the semi-final contest.

“I think we underestimated the Campion batters, and we dropped a lot of [chances], and the bowling was wayward. After I spoke to the players about improving the discipline, they improved with ball and bat in the second innings. Wayne Plummer batted well and Ralique Thomas batted with maturity, and they pooled their resources and brought us across the line,” he told the Observer.

The St Jago coach urged his players to up their game if they are to turn the tables on Excelsior.

“We have to go out there and execute. It’s a three-day final so we have to concentrate for all three days. Excelsior have a very good team on paper but my team is good as well. We learned a lot from the last final and we have put in place some plans, so as long as the players come up with those plans we can be victorious,” said Lemmie.

— Sanjay Myers