THE top three teams in both the Premier and First Divisions will be involved in Knockout Cup semi-finals on Sunday as league champions Southampton Rangers look to add a third trophy to their collection.

In the First Division Knockout Cup, top two Bailey's Bay and Devonshire Rec. will be involved in a showdown at Devonshire Rec. in one of the two semi-finals.

Rangers clinched their second league title in four years last weekend when they beat Willow Cuts in their final league match. However, the margin of that victory - one wicket - and a previous meeting between the two teams which went Willow Cuts' way in the second round of the Western Counties would suggest that the season's top team might not have things their own way against the Western Counties champions.

Rangers, chasing a modest 163 last weekend to win and seal the title, had to call on player-coach Clevie Wade to pull them out of a big hole with 34 not out as he and Rohaan Simons (23) rescued them from 93-7 with a stand of 51 for the eighth wicket. Garry Williams then scored a vital 12 not out as he and Wade carried Rangers to the title with a last wicket partnership of 13.

And while Rangers should be favourites in their second straight meeting with Cuts, their opponents won't be intimidated by the task ahead of them. Cuts will know that if they bat first and score somewhere in the region of 200 runs they could make a game of it as Rangers have looked vulnerable, at times, when chasing modest totals.

By contrast, though, they did look impressive in chasing 278 to beat St. David's in the semi-finals of the Belco Cup which they went on to win for the first time in June.

St. David's should make the most of home advantage when they take on Western Stars in the other semi-final. Both teams faltered in the title race but were still good enough to finish in the top four and clinch places in next year's Belco Cup which, for the fourth straight season, will involve the same four teams...Rangers, St. David's, Stars and St. George's.

Since Cup Match both St. David's and Western Stars have fielded only 10 men in crucial matches. St. David's closed out their league season last weekend with victory over Cleveland as Clay Smith's Cup Match form continued with 69 not out against Cleveland.

Stars were understrength and short-handed in their home match against St. George's which they needed to win to have any chance of pipping Rangers for the title. In the end they lost by three wickets as Charlie Marshall got revenge, of sorts, on Albert Steede after the Cup Match draw. It would have been even sweeter had Cuts beaten Rangers, but in the end a Rangers win meant that the Stars result was irrelevant.

Devonshire Rec. and Bailey's Bay will have their sights on the 'double' a week after clinching promotion. However, only one will have that dream still alive after Sunday as one of them will be eliminated in their First Division Knockout semi-final clash at Devonshire Rec.

It wasn't that long ago that these two clubs had two of the strongest teams in local cricket. Both are former winners of the Camel (now Belco) Cup, however, both have slumped in recent years and were relegated to the First Division. Devonshire Rec. have been in the bottom division for a few years while Bay's stay there was limited to one season as they bounced right back.

Both teams have been rebuilding in recent years and some talented youngsters are starting to emerge, with Rec's Ricardo Brangman, the son of Rangers' Ricky Brangman, in the running for a place in the St. George's Cup Match team as wicketkeeper.

Flatts face a tricky semi-final with Leg Trappers at Sea Breeze Oval...the day after they meet Bailey's Bay in the second round of the Eastern Counties at Lord's.

No doubt if they had a choice between the two pieces of silverware, Flatts would choose the latter, which they have not won since the 1980 series when they beat Cleveland by eight wickets in the final, only to lose to the same team in the first round of the '81 competition.