Newcomers Ernst & Young made an immediate impact on the Commercial Cricket League when they crushed North Village by six wickets in the opening round of League Cup matches using a Twenty20 format for the first time.

But their victory was overshadowed by the remarkable match-winning figures of Hamilton Parish pace bowler Curtis Lee, who claimed eight for 18 from 23 balls against Forties.

Both matches in Group A were played on a spongy, unpredictable synthetic surface at Southampton Oval and left Village and Forties facing an uphill fight to reach the semi-finals in their four-team division.

West Indian clubs Spring Garden Cavaliers and Jamaican Association, who have been boosted by the return to the Island of fast bowler Michael Campbell, recorded emphatic victories in Group B, which features five teams, on the slow new strip at Garrison Field with Courtney Weekes hitting a half-century for the Cavaliers, who formerly played as West Indian Association.

Having lost the toss, Village struggled to pace their innings after a good start and were restricted to 112 for four, opener Mike Payne hitting three fours and two sixes in his 38 and Rudy Smith, at number four, topscoring with 39, which included four fours and two sixes.

Opener Stephen Connors was Ernst & Young's hero, smashing five fours and a huge six in his quickfire 40. Vice-captain Warren Smith made 34 not out, including four sixes, and skipper Karunakar Kaushik chipped in with 22, the pair adding 51 for the fourth wicket.

Smith's final six clinched victory with 29 balls to spare. Kevin Mallory was Village's most successful bowler with two for 30 from four overs.

"It was a pure team effort and everybody contributed to this first success," said Kaushik.

"All our bowlers bowled well and made it difficult for North Village to score and so they opted for some big shots and tried to get some quick runs. But they found this difficult too."

Forties, who opened the season with a seven-run defeat against Village in the Memorial Trophy, again struggled to make runs at the Oval as Lee skittled them out for a paltry 65 in 12.5 overs.

Parish didn't have things all their own way when they replied but opener Mike Burgess' 23 (four fours) helped them reach 66 for five in 15.5 overs, skipper Gordon Campbell taking two for 16 from four.

Weekes' 59 included three fours and four sixes as the Cavaliers piled up a daunting 193 for seven against ten-man BC Allrounders in the opener at Garrison Field.

Lloyd Morrison (three fours and a six) made 27 while extras accounted for 31 of Cavaliers' total.

Shejuan Smith, with two for 27 from four, and Frederick Simons (two for 37 from three) were the pick of the BC Allrounders' attack but their batsmen never got to grips with Cavaliers' bowling, subsiding to 79 all out from the final ball.

Morrison bagged three for 13 from four, Ishwar Narayanan, formerly of Fine Leg Byes, who have dropped out of the league, took three for 15 from four and fast bowler Anthony Brathwaite picked up two for 24 from four.

With David Gibbs and Campbell leading their attack again, Jamaican Association could be a force to reckon with this season and they crushed St. David's by five wickets with six overs to spare in the second match.

St. David's, who won the toss and elected to bat, made 103 for eight from their 20 overs, Gregory Outerbridge topscoring with 24.

Campbell took two for seven from three overs while Kevin Abrahams took two for 17 from four.

Gibbs led the way with the bat, stroking 29, while Presley Millwood made 22 as the Jamaicans replied with 107 for five.

Aaron Crockwell took two for 19 from three while Outerbridge also impressed with the ball, claiming two for 24 from four.