Holders Forties and league champions North Village set up a repeat of the delayed 2004 knockout final by emerging victorious after the Commercial Cricket League?s first taste of the Duckworth/Lewis system determined the outcome of rain-hit semi-finals.

Forties? nine-wicket victory over West Indian Association at Shelly Bay ? highlighted by opener Harold Minors? fourth successive half century during a scintillating unbroken 100-run partnership with Gladwin Ingham ? was the more clear-cut of the two.

But Village, whose medium pacer Reggie Benjamin produced a superb six-wicket haul, had to wait until Tuesday for confirmation they had beaten Jamaican Association by a narrow margin after a comedy of errors at Somerset Cricket Club.

Duckworth/Lewis was introduced by the Commercial League this year after last season?s rain-ruined knockout semi-final between WIA and Village led to the West Indians threatening legal action because they were not declared the winners of the tie under the D/L system.

The league ordered WIA to replay the match ? the only option under existing rules ? but they refused, forcing the final to be held over to the start of this season. WIA?s continued protest was thrown out at the league?s annual meeting and Forties went on to beat Village by five wickets at Shelly Bay.

Now the teams will meet again in Sunday?s final at Sea Breeze Oval ? but two influential players will be missing from the season finale.

Gordon Campbell, skipper of Forties, winners of the tournament a record 12 times, will be attending his daughter Jennifer?s wedding while Village?s prolific batsman Allen Richardson will be off the Island, according to spokesman Wendell Lindsay.

Medium pacer Benjamin?s six for 14 from his allotted seven overs helped bundle Jamaican Association out for 88, including 15 wides, in 26 overs at Somerset where a delayed start because of morning showers forced umpire Richard Burrows to reduce the match to 35 overs-a-side.

Village replied with 58 for five from 20.2 overs ? just over the required 20-over minimum ? before heavy rain forced players from the pitch at 4.45 p.m. and eventually led to the abandonment of the match.

Ground staff apparently waited for a signal from the umpire to bring on the covers ? but it never came, according to onlookers, and the pitch and run-ups became soaked.

It was frustrating for players on both sides who left the ground in the dark over who?d won.

On Tuesday, Bermuda Cricket Umpires Association secretary Randy Butler delivered the belated verdict ? Village, whose target was 52, had won by six runs.

Opener Presley Millwood top-scored for the Jamaicans with 23, adding 30 for the second wicket with Chris Daley (seven), but the side had no answer to wrecker-in-chief Benjamin as the final nine wickets tumbled for 41 runs.

Village made a sticky start themselves, losing their first three wickets for ten, but Kevin Bailey (six) and Richardson (23) added 36 before both fell at 46. Mike Young was on one with Ricky Hill, belatedly in at No. 7, on six when the rain came. Pace bowler Simroy Crosdale had the best Jamaican figures with two for 12 from five overs.

George Francis and Kent Gibbons were originally appointed to officiate at the match but they were switched to the Central Counties final between Western Stars and Social Club. Burrows was asked to fill in but attempts to find a second umpire to join him failed.

?Why wasn?t the pitch covered?? asked Village spokesman Lindsay. ?Naturally I?m pleased with the verdict but it was frustrating, a fiasco. The Jamaicans bowled well on a wicket playing slow and low.?

He added: ?I?ll contain my joy until, hopefully, we?ve won it all (league and knockout).?

Glenmore Barrett, spokesman for the Jamaican Association, accepted the Butler report in good spirit and said: ?It?s disappointing we couldn?t finish the match but we?re looking forward to next season.?

Forties, who scraped a losing draw and lost to WIA in the league this season, put that wretched form behind them as they trounced their rivals with eight overs to spare ? but only after umpires Jeff Pitcher and George O?Brien had revised their winning target three times!

Forties bowled out WIA for 122 in 31.2 overs after sending them in in overcast conditions and had reached 54 for one in 11.1 overs when heavy rain held up play for more than an hour.

?After the delay the umpires cut our overs to 32 (from 40) and cut the target to 109 having first told us it was 80 and then 98,? said skipper Campbell.

Opener Chris Clarke (26) helped WIA reach 40 without loss but wickets fell steadily after that and only Sri Narasimhan, with 33 at number five, offered any serious resistance as pace bowler Brian Holdipp, strangely finding plenty of swing even after the sun came out, claimed four for 25 from 7.2 overs, ably backed up by David DeSilva (two for 17 in five), Blake West (two for 20 in eight) and Oscar Andrade (two for 33 in seven).

Forties lost Campbell for one ? trapped lbw by Stan Francis, who finished with one for 32 from eight ? with the total 11 but Ingham, who made an unbeaten 28, teamed up with Minors, whose unbeaten 59 included two sixes, to carry their side to 111 for one to seal an impressive victory. Minors? 59 followed earlier scores of 58, 60 and 54.

And Duckworth/Lewis? On Sunday, it was abundantly clear that many of the Island?s umpires are still struggling to understand the complexities of the system.