Off-spinner Shamar Cooke (five for 32) and left-arm spinner Derick Bishop (four for 54) shared nine wickets as Seven Seas Police capitulated and left home team BNB St Catherine poised for victory yesterday.
When play resumes today, St Catherine will need a further 149 runs for victory with all their second innings wickets in hand.
Set 171 to win, the home team reached 22 without loss with Dayne Maynard and Chad Proverbs surviving five overs after Police collapsed to a second innings 198.
St Catherine had earlier taken first innings lead, converting their overweek 119 for eight to 161 all out in reply to the Police first innings score of 133.
Ahmed Proverbs started the day on 43, and with Chad Puckerin on four, helped their side secure the lead.
Proverbs and Puckerin (16) added 59 for the ninth wicket, a stand that started last weekend when the home team slumped to 101 for eight. Proverbs topscored with 68, an innings that included six fours and one six.
Two significant partnerships put Police on course for a more productive second innings before a major collapse left St Catherine with the advantage.
Dwayne Yearwood (48) and opener Roger Williams (37) put on 79 for the second wicket and after a mini collapse, in which three wickets fell for ten runs, Dion Broome (38) and Rico Webb (17) added 44 for the fifth wicket.
The dismissal of Webb, lbw to Bishop, triggered a terminal slide in which six wickets fell for 35 runs, the last five for just 13.
The low-scoring affair, in which there have not been any batting points and neither side has reached the 200-run mark, is now set for an intriguing final day with an outright result virtually assured as long as the weather holds.
