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Oran Bristol yesterday advanced to the final of the Barbados Fire & Commercial Shield competition amidst some heated discussion and debate after their victory over Malvern.

Bristol will have to wait to see who their opponents will be as the other semi between Wotton and Piton Dover will have to be replayed because play could not resume after rain fell.

Malvern 188 in 39.4 overs lost to Bristol 155-2 in 30 overs by virtue of faster scoring rate.

At Old Coleridge: Bristol outplayed the visitors, but at the end the Malvern camp left promising to protest the result after they were surprised when light was offered to the batsmen at 5:30 p.m.

Bristol were making light work of their target with Man-Of-The-Match Norton Thompson paving the way with a polished 68 not out. He added an unbroken third-wicket stand of 40 with Michael Shepherd (24 not out).

The umpires offered light and the Bristol batsmen accepted, thereby securing the victory and giving their supporters much to shout about.

Bristol were scoring at 5.16 runs per over when the match concluded ahead of Malvern's rate of 4.7 per over. Midway in the Bristol innings there was a break for rain but the officials did not revise the target and this seems to be the "major beef" for Malvern.

Rule 21 governing the competition states: If the team batting second has not had the opportunity to complete the agreed number of overs and has neither been bowled out nor passed the opponents score, the following shall apply, provided that at least 15 overs have been bowled:

1. The result shall be decided on the run rate throughout each innings and the team with the higher run rate shall be the winners.

2. If, due to a suspension of play, the number of overs in the innings of the team batting second has to be revised, their target shall be calculated by multiplying the revised number of overs (this includes overs before interruption) by the run rate of the team batting first.

There was no stopping Thompson, who added 59 for the first wicket with Owen Skeete (24), and 56 for the second wicket with skipper David Carrington (26).

Earlier, play started 30 minutes late due to rain and Malvern were kept in check by John Greaves, who bagged three for 33.

Jefferson Goodridge topscored with 34, and former Division 1 batsman Kirk Clarke chipped in with 27. Ivor Holligan made 22 not out at the bottom of the innings.

Wotton 171-6 in 38 overs vs Piton Dover

At Wotton: A spot at the southern end of the pitch forced the umpires to call off the match at 3:30 p.m. before defending champions Dover could start their reply.

The umpires decided to abandon the contest after seepage under the covers from rain during the lunch break.

The match was dubbed the "Christ Church Derby" but both sides left the ground contented with the officials' verdict and will be looking forward to the rematch.

A hard-hitting 64 not out by Leon Layne kept the Wotton innings together. The former YMPC batsman hit four fours and four sixes off just 68 balls before a large crowd as Wotton left Dover requiring 4.5 runs per over.

© Barbados Nation