KEY MEN: Maple pacer Kemar Roach bowling during his four-wicket haul last Saturday. While Roach will miss the final day today, Banks will depend a lot on Jonathan Carter, who made 53 in the first innings.

by HAYDN GILL

KEMAR ROACH will be missing but CGI Maple are confident of rolling over defending Division 1 champions Banks to complete a second successive victory over the Brewery men.

With Roach away in Antigua as part of a West Indies training squad in preparation for the forthcoming series against Australia, Maple, in keeping with the rules of the Barbados Cricket Association, have drafted in a replacement player, medium-pacer Kirk Broome.

Maple, behind a belligerent century from Barrington Yearwood and Roach's outstanding allround performance, have put themselves in an excellent position to press for victory in the first-round Division 1 match ahead of today's third and final day.

After amassing 402 in which Roach contributed an unbeaten 68 batting at No. 9, they restricted Banks to 245 with the pacer grabbing four for 56 before leaving the field with cramp.

Banks, following-on, will resume their second innings on seven without loss, still trailing by 150 and will be put to the test in trying to stave off Maple, who are seeking to avenge defeat to the same opponents in last year's final.

Manager Barrington Yearwood Snr is upbeat that his men can complete the job in the absence of Roach.

"We are optimistic that we can win, but we have to bowl well. The pitch over the last three days, including the One-Day match, has been very good," Yearwood said.

"Once we do the right things . . . get the balls consistently in the right areas, we should come [out] on top. The spinners – Shane Ramsay, Don Oneal and Renaldo Parris – should play a key role."

If Maple win, it will be a second straight victory over Banks after beating them by six wickets when chasing a target of 235 in last Sunday's Sagicor General Super Cup match.

Other matches are also likely to produce outright results and the most certain is at Old Coleridge where ESA Field Pickwick need another 61 to win against Bristol with all their second innings wickets intact.

Carib Carlton will also feel they are in a reasonable position to beat Guardian General Barbados Youth at Cane Garden. The youngsters are 32 without loss in their second innings and still need another 145 to avoid an innings defeat.

It could also be a trying time for both Wanderers and BRC BCL.

Wanderers lead by just one run with three wickets down in their second innings against Cable & Wireless at Wildey, while YMPC, ahead by 135, are likely to set BCL a target of around 200, which could make for an interesting finish.

Summarised scores:

At the Brewery: CGI Maple 402. Banks 245 and 7-0.

At Bank Hall: BNB St Catherine 244 and 68-2. ICBL Empire 249.

At Old Coleridge: Oran/Carib Bristol 104 and 192. ESA Field Pickwick 192 and 44-0.

At Cane Garden: Guardian General Barbados Youth 193 and 32-0. Carib Carlton 370.

At Wildey: Wanderers 206 and 31-3. Cable & Wireless 238.

At Beckles Road: Caribbean Lumber YMPC 251 and 118-3. BRC BCL 234.

At Weymouth 'A': Super Centre Spartan 280. Police 223-9.

At Paragon: BDFSP v Sagicor UWI - match starts today.