It’s a case of all to play for in the West Indies Championship four-day match between Jamaica Scorpions and visitors Barbados Pride at Sabina Park, starting this morning at 10:00.

The Scorpions, on 29.6 points, have their noses in front after winning the opening contest of the three-match, first-class series at Chedwin Park two weeks ago. The Pride, on 19.8 points, recovered some ground last week after holding the ascendancy in the high-scoring, drawn encounter at Sabina Park.

Elsewhere, Leeward Islands Hurricanes are hosting Trinidad and Tobago Red Force and Windward Islands Volcanoes are facing title holders Guyana Harpy Eagles, both in Antigua.

The points leader after the bilateral matches will advance to the final, while the second- and third-placed sides will play-off to earn the right to contest the championship match.

To ensure match readiness, the top team is to engage in a first-class match against West Indies Academy while the play-off encounter is in progress.

The Harpy Eagles, who have registered two dominant wins over the Volcanoes, lead the six-team table with 43.2 points. The Volcanoes are last with 7.6 points.

The Red Force are second with 37 points after a victory and a draw — due to the second match being abandoned because of a dangerous pitch — against the Hurricanes. The fifth-placed Hurricanes are on 10.8 points.

The task for the fourth-placed Pride is fairly clear. They almost certainly will need to force an outright win, along with picking up bonus points, to advance to the final stages of the competition.

The third-placed Scorpions only need to avoid defeat and gather as many bonus points as possible to advance. A victory would secure their progress.

The batsmen have reigned supreme in the Jamaica versus Barbados series so far on docile pitches, with each team scoring over 300 runs in both innings at Chedwin Park.

Batting was even easier at Sabina Park — Barbados declared on 626-8 in reply to the Scorpions’ 457 all out before the rain-shortened contest petered to a draw with the hosts on 90-4.

Jamaica Scorpions Head Coach Robert Haynes acknowledged that his team has the upper hand heading into the decider.

“We are still leading…so we have to just make sure we get more points than Barbados,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

While Haynes noted that the bowling unit lacked the cutting edge last week, he said the middle-order batting was also found wanting. Left-hand openers Kirk McKenzie, who has scored two hundreds, and John Campbell, who has a century and a 96 under his belt, have been the batting standouts for the Scorpions.

“The middle order hasn’t really got big runs and that’s something we have to look at because we have guys who can make big hundreds,” the Jamaica coach said.

His opposite number, Vasbert Drakes, said the Pride will have to find a way to grab 20 wickets to secure a win.

“Both teams are playing some good cricket and you can see the confidence, certainly from a batting perspective. The wickets seem to be ones we have to work really hard on [to get wickets], so we have to go back to the drawing board and [execute] the plans for the game,” said the Barbados head coach.

“We have to look for cracks in the wall as it relates to getting those front-line batters out early so we can make more inroads in the Jamaican batting line-up,” Drakes told the Observer.

The Pride middle-order batsman Kevin Wickham has been a thorn in the side of the Jamaican bowlers, scoring a century on each of the three occasions he has faced them this season — twice in the match at Chedwin Park and once at Sabina Park.

Sidelined West Indies Test opener Kraigg Brathwaite, the Pride captain, is also in good touch, scoring a typically defiant 176 last week.

— Sanjay Myers

Kirk McKenzie of Jamaica Scorpions bats during the West Indies Championship four-day cricket match against Barbados Pride at Sabina Park on April 19, 2026. (Photo: Naphtali Junior)