South Africa Tour

The squads have been confirmed by the Cricket West Indies Selection Panel, with 14 players named per squad and 11 players batting in each innings. Hamilton is humbled and eager to lead one of the squads, especially considering the importance of this contest to all involved.

“There’s going to be some quality. We have the best guys for red-ball cricket in the Caribbean here, so it is going to be a challenge,” he said.

“Also, this game is to select players for the Test team, so it is going to be a great showdown. I am in the captain’s role, so I just want to put my best foot forward and lead the team to victory."

Jermaine Blackwood was equally as elated and is adamant that the fans will be treated with a fine contest.

“The fans can expect great cricket over the next four days because we have some very competitive athletes here,” he said.

“We are ready to go play some exciting cricket starting tomorrow. We are a group of hungry players, who are ready to showcase our talent to the selectors and coaches. I am very honoured to be leading one of the teams. Fans can tune into the West Indies YouTube page to watch the game live.”

The match will be streamed live on the Windies Cricket YouTube channel.

The links for each day’s live coverage are as follows:

Day 1: https://youtu.be/ZlxHDYMt9No

Day 2: https://youtu.be/kvniMRsupus

Day 3: https://youtu.be/ozr2t6KAwNo

Day 4: https://youtu.be/wpw0LPNg-gM

Meanwhile, four players who played in the recent series against Sri Lanka will be unavailable for the “Best v Best” match.

Jason Holder, the ICC’s Number 1 ranked Test all-rounder arrived in St. Lucia on May 28 and after going through the agreed quarantine protocols will begin training on June 1 once he has returned two negative PCR tests.

Test Captain Kraigg Brathwaite and fast bowlers Kemar Roach and Alzarri Joseph are arriving in St Lucia later this coming week following their English County Championship commitments. They will join training after completing the quarantine protocols and once they respectively return two negative PCR tests each.

Blackwood’s team comprises Shai Hope, Darren Bravo, John Campbell, Rahkeem Cornwall, Keon Harding, Shannon Gabriel, Kavem Hodge, Kyle Mayers, Veerasammy Permaul, Joshua Da Silva, Nail Smith, Oshane Thomas and Hayden Walsh Jr.

Hamilton’s team is Nkrumah Bonner, Shamarh Brooks, Roston Chase, Kerron Cottoy, Chemar Holder, Obed McCoy, Preston McSween, Shayne Moseley, Paul Palmer, Kieron Powell, Raymon Reifer, Jayden Seales and Jomel Warrican.

The match that will be officiated by umpires Joel Wilson, Gregory Brathwaite and Leslie Reifer Jr is set to begin at 9 am Jamaica time. 10 am AST.

In what was a must-win match for the Caribbean women, Captain Stafanie Taylor won the toss and asked South Africa to bat.

It proved to be the correct decision as Chinelle Henry took 3-11 and was backed up by Shamilia Connell, who took 1-18 as South Africa lost four wickets for just 22 runs by the sixth over. However, the situation could have been worse for South Africa as the West Indies dropped three chances in those early overs, two of them by Deandra Dottin.

Through the efforts of Mignon du Preez and Marizanne Kapp, South Africa began to fight back as the pair shared in an unbroken partnership of 39 before the rains came. Du Preez, who hit three fours in a row off Hayley Matthews’s first over that yielded 15 runs before the rains came, was unbeaten on 38 from 31 balls and Kapp on five with South Africa on 61-4.

Both teams earned one point each. With it, the West Indies Women move to third on the standings with 7 points and now await the outcome of the South Africa-India match on March 27. Should South Africa win, the West Indies will secure a semi-final berth, should India win, then the West Indies will be eliminated.

“It's not the way we liked. can't do much about it, something we can't control,” said a concerned Taylor, who praised Henry afterwards.

“We were hoping that we would have had a game. The bowlers have been doing a fantastic job, For Chinelle, there's something about South Africa, she always does well, she takes wickets.

 I tossed her the ball and she was in great rhythm. We will probably have some popcorn, hope that South Africa do beat India for us to give it a chance. It's something we can't control but do hope it goes our way.”

The West Indies Women’s captain conceded that their inconsistent form has led them to this situation where the team’s destiny is not within its own hands.

“Probably other than the first two games we have played we have been iffy. Travelling does put a dent in that, you don't get much recovery time, we are trying our best to recover,” she said.

“Niggles do creep in at times, it's about managing them. It's never easy when you are travelling around. If we go to the semis, you just have to go out and play, does not matter if it's a niggle or an injury, you have to step up. It comes down to how badly you want it.”

West Indies Women's all-rounder Deandra Dottin shared some of her captain’s concerns but remained optimistic.

 "We knew coming into this tournament that it was going to be tough. We had to travel after every game so consistency was difficult,” she said.

“We played good cricket, we just didn't put enough runs on the board in some games. The girls are still in good spirits; we always have that never die attitude. We just have to look forward now. The tournament is still playing so not all is lost just yet."