CAVE HILL, Barbados (CMC) – An unbroken, half-century opening stand between Shacaya Thomas and Kyle Corbin reinforced Combined Campuses & Colleges’ early advantage in their battle with Jamaica for the last semi-final slot in the Regional Four-Day Championship here yesterday.

Thomas was not out on 33 and Corbin was not out on 21, as CCC reached 59 without loss, replying to the Jamaicans’ first-innings total of 182, at the close on the opening day of the seventh round match.
Carlton Baugh Jr hit the top score of 57 for the visitors while Jerome Taylor, batting at number 10, made 39, after they chose to bat on a hard, true 3Ws Oval pitch under cloudy to overcast skies.
No other Jamaica batsman reached 20, as left-arm fast-medium bowler Raymond Reifer grabbed three for 24 from 11 overs to undermine the top-order before spinners Akeem Dewar, Jomel Warrican and Ryan Austin mopped up the remainder of the batting to earn the home team three valuable bowling points.
Baugh put on 43 for the eighth wicket with Nikita Miller, whom Taylor overshadowed in a ninth-wicket stand of 45.
Thomas, the leading batsman in the tournament this year, and Corbin then batted through until the close to stiffen the CCC’s position in the game.
The pugnacious Thomas was fortunate on four, when he skied the third delivery of the innings from Taylor to mid-off for Nkrumah Bonner to grass a regulation chance, much to the consternation of his teammates.
Earlier, Jamaica endured a horrific start to the match, when they slumped to 56 for five at lunch.
Off-spinner Austin was introduced from the sixth over and made the breakthrough, when he had John Campbell caught behind for eight.
New-ball bowler Kevin McClean struck in the following over, when Jermaine Blackwood edged a loose drive outside the off-stump and gave second slip fielder Kyle Corbin his 19th catch of the season.
By the time the drinks break arrived, Jamaica were 26 for three, after Reifer, switched to the Ramadin & Valentine End at the south of the ground, bowled Bonner for 12 off the inside-edge.
Reifer persevered and struck in successive overs, when he had Test batsman Marlon Samuels caught at cover for 12 and held a return catch to dismiss Andre McCarthy for a duck, sinking Jamaica to 44 for five.
After the interval, Jamaica continued to slip further, when their captain Tamar Lambert was bowled for 18 playing on a delivery from Austin and rookie Damian Jacobs was lbw to the left-arm spin of Warrican for five, leaving the visitors 86 for seven.
Baugh, unusually restrained, started to bat more freely and reached his 50 from 114 balls with a drive through extra cover off Reifer for the last of his four boundaries before he was lbw to Warrican in the first over, after Jamaican resumed from their tea-time total of 129 for seven.
Taylor gave evidence again that he is no slouch with the bat, belting four sixes and a four from 35 balls before he was caught at backward point off leg-spinner Dewar, who brought the innings to close, when he had Miller caught by wicketkeeper Chadwick Walton for 17.
CCC made two changes, bringing Reifer and McClean in to replace Kavem Hodge and Justin Greaves.
Jamaica swapped Jon-Ross Campbell and Brian Buchanan for Samuels and left-arm fast bowler Sheldon Cotterell.
With the top three teams – Trinidad & Tobago, Barbados and Windward Islands – having all secured a place in the last four, the last slot in the semifinals has come down to a straight shoot-out between CCC and Jamaica.
Two points separate the two sides, but the Jamaicans – based on history, if not current form – were heavily favoured, having never lost or have never been beaten by the CCC in the Regional Four-Day tournament in any of the eight matches that they have played previously.
They have also won every time they have played at this venue in this tournament in the past.