THEY may have only just qualified for this year's Belco Cup, but defending champions Southampton Rangers will still go into this weekend's popular two-day tournament as the team to beat.

It can be argued that the three-time defending champions are lucky to be in the tournament after only beating out Somerset on net run rate for the fourth spot in the final Premier Division standings for 2007. But that, coupled with the opportunity to make history as the first team to win four straight titles in the 21-year old tournament, will certainly give Rangers plenty to play for as they put their three year unbeaten run on the line.

Ironically the team they will first have to beat are Young Men's Social Club, the team to whom they lost last September in the final match of the season when Social Club clinched the league title and Rangers were left to wait for Belco Cup qualification confirmation after finishing level on points with Somerset.

"Things have been going pretty good with our preparations, we're doing pretty good in the league with three straight wins and everybody's paying attention to the plan we have at hand," said player-coach Janeiro Tucker in the buildup to Saturday's semi-final clash with Social Club, the team they beat by 66 runs in the final last season.

Some may say that Rangers aren't as formidable this season, particularly in the bowling department where they have lost main strike bowler Traddie Simpson to Police and top spinner Dwayne (Sluggo) Leverock to Cleveland.

But Tucker disagrees.

"I think we are, even without those guys," said the veteran allrounder. "Our bowling is still pretty good, I think we have a well balanced team, fielding-wise, batting-wise and bowling-wise. Those guys aren't really a big loss right now, things are going quite well, everybody is listening to what I have to say and showing them what's got to be done."

Top order batsman Curtis Jackson has also departed ranks to return to Cleveland while wicketkeeper batsman Kwame Tucker is yet to turn out for the team so far this season.

New captain Malachi Jones, still only a teenager, will feel the pressure as Rangers push for a record fourth straight victory. But as he showed two years ago when he produced a match-winning knock against St. David's in the final, the youngster has the mental toughness to cope.

As well as Jones, Rangers will lean heavily on Tucker and Keith Wainwright to lead the way in the batting. Tucker won the man-of-the-match award for his 97 in last year's final and says combining the coaching duties with playing isn't affected his game even though he has extra responsibilities during training sessions and has to put the other players first.

Tucker is confident that even without three players from last year's team Rangers will give a good account of themselves, though they cannot afford to look any further than Saturday's match with the league champions.

"That's what you go out there to do, to win. You have to aim high," he stressed. "We just need to get past Social Club first and then we can look ahead to Sunday. Saturday is the main task right now."

The possibility of a Rangers-St. David's final for the third time in four years is very much on the cards for Sunday. While the Rangers-Social Club could go either way, St. David's aren't expected to have too much trouble against the competition's most successful team, St. George's, who are possibly the weakest team in the Premier Division this season after three straight losses in the league, including being dismissed for just 28 by St. David's two weeks ago.

St. George's have won the competition five times in nine appearances in the final, but have not done so since Belco became the title sponsors in 2003. They were the first team to win the cup (previously the Premier Cup and Camel Cup) three straight years but since their last title in 1999 the team has been in a gradual decline though they were good enough for a third place finish in the 50-overs league last year.

St. George's also have a new captain in youngster Oronde Bascome whose debut as captain was against St. David's two weeks ago after Ryan Steede stood down in frustration. That performance would not have done much to encourage some their fans to make the long trek to the west end to support them on Saturday. Bragging rights should again be with their neighbours St. David's, who showed some vulnerability in losing to Police last weekend. Truth is, St. George's aren't strong enough to exploit it.

Sunday's final is also scheduled for St. David's.