( l - r ) Chris Gayle, Darren Sammy - File photos

The Trelawny Multi-purpose Stadium is expected to come alive today when Jamaica, led by Chris Gayle, takes on Darren Sammy's Windward Islands in the feature game in day one of the 2010 West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) President's Cup one-day tournament.

Both teams would love to make a winning start as they seek to advance to at least the semi-final round of the two-week tournament. The game is slated to start at 9 a.m. and will be one of two Group A games today.

The other will be see back-to-back champions, Trinidad and Tobago, with all-rounder Dwayne Bravo, big-hitting Kieron Pollard and Adrian Barath in their line-up, going up against the Omar Phillips and Chadwick Walton-led Combined Campuses and Colleges at Kensington Park.

"We are at home and there is only one thing on our mind and that is to win," said Gayle in a recent radio interview.

"Looking at the make-up of the team, I think it is balanced and once we play to our potential, we should be able to beat the Windwards," he added.

Jamaica, who last won the title three seasons ago, will be seeking an overall eighth hold in the tournament's 38-year history.

In addition to the hard-hitting Gayle, the home team will look to bank their hopes on dependable middle-order batsman, Brendan Nash, and the steady left-arm spinner, Nikita Miller. The trio should also get valuable support from all-rounders David Bernard Jr and Andre Russell, who on their day can turn a game with either bat or ball.

create an upset

The Windwards, whose last held the title in the 2000-01 season, will be hoping to create an upset through improving all-rounder Sammy and attacking batsmen Devon Smith and Andre Fletcher.

"The first game will be a big hurdle against Jamaica, but it's cricket and it's who plays better on the day who will win," said Sammy. Trinidad, in the meantime, who are gunning for an overall 11th hold on the crown, the most by any country, are favourites to beat the CCC and according to their captain, Daren Ganga, they expect to win.

Barbados, Guyana and the WICB/Sagicor High Performance Centre, in the meanwhile, arrived in the island yesterday. The trio will compete in Group B alongside the Leewards Islands and will open their account tomorrow.