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• Sinclair grabs 5-44 as honors even at stumps on day one of deciding third unofficial “Test” against South Africa “A”

  Kevin Sinclair was the star of day one of the deciding third unofficial “Test” between the West Indies “A” and South Africa “A” at the Manguang Oval in Bloemfontein on Tuesday.

  South Africa “A” were able to post 274 in 67.4 overs after winning the toss. Khaya Zondo led the way with a well-compiled 70 off 114 balls including seven fours and two sixes.

  Captain Neil Brand also showed some good form with a 93-ball 62 while Zubayr Hamza made 30.

  Sinclair was excellent with the ball, picking up 5-44 off 14.4 overs, already his fourth five-wicket haul of his 20-match first-class career.

  Shamar Joseph and Shermon Lewis provided good support with 3-65 from 15 overs and 2-68 from 13 overs, respectively.

  The West Indians ended the day 17-1 off eight overs, trailing by 257. Tagenarine Chanderpaul was the batsman dismissed for 3. Zachary McCaskie (12) and Kirk McKenzie (2) are the batsmen at the crease.

  The teams are tied at 1-1 in the series. West Indies “A” won the first game by one wicket and South Africa “A” won the second by 232 runs.

  Full Scores:

  South Africa “A” 274 off 67.4 overs (Khaya Zondo 70, Neil Brand 62, Zubayr Hamza 30, Kevin Sinclair 5-44, Shamar Joseph 3-65, Shermon Lewis 2-68)

  West Indies “A” 17-1 off 8 overs

   

• Sophie Ecclestone set for England return in T20 opener in India – Heather Knight

  Sophie Ecclestone will make her England comeback in Wednesday’s T20 series opener against India, with captain Heather Knight declaring the spinner “fit and firing” after four months out.

  The world number one white-ball bowler needed surgery after dislocating her shoulder in August while taking part in the Hundred, missing the home series against Sri Lanka and the Women’s Big Bash League in Australia.

  But she stepped up her recovery during England’s recent training camp in Oman and is ready to return to action at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium.

  “Sophie has missed a bit of cricket with the injury she had but she’s going to be fit and firing, so I’m looking forward to seeing her bowl,” Knight said.

  “I don’t think bowling will be an issue, she’s been doing really well, but fielding there might be a bit of nervousness. I’ve had injuries myself where it’s about getting over trusting your body.

  “I’m sure in the heat of battle Sophie will be fine, she’s tracking really well in training, diving around and things like that, but we’ll keep a close eye on her because she’s obviously a key player for us.”

  England have not toured India since 2019 but Knight was among a handful of players who played in the country’s inaugural Women’s Premier League and believes it is the perfect place for her side to develop.

  “It feels a long time since we’ve been to India, but now the WPL is a staple in the calendar there’s going to be a lot of cricket here for English players,” she said.

  “I always feel I learn a lot about my game playing in Indian conditions. It really tests you as a cricketer in terms of skill level, how you deal with the noise, the heat and the other things that tend to happen in Indian tours.

  “It’s a really good place to accelerate development and I’m excited to see how we cope with it.

  “I’m really excited to see what sort of crowd we get too. Hopefully we get a few in after the WPL earlier in the year and we can silence the crowd, if there is one.”

  England have one doubt for the series opener, with Charlie Dean set to sit out due to illness.

• Kevin Wickham and Academy bowlers combine to crush Emerging Ireland by 432 runs at Coolidge

  As was expected, West Indies Academy inflicted a soul-crushing defeat on Emerging Island in their four-day match at the Coolidge Cricket Ground on Wednesday to sweep the series 2-0. Having been set a nigh-impossible target of 575 runs, the tourists wilted under the pressure and we bowled out for 143, thus losing by a mammoth 432 runs.

  Having resumed from their overnight total of 172-4, for an already significant lead of 432 runs, West Indies Academy, spurred by Kevin Wickham’s unbeaten 105 and contributions of 32 from Nyeem Young and 22 from McKenny Clarke, eventually declared on 321-8.

  The spark in the dark for Emerging Ireland was the haul of 5-75 by Tom Hayes, who got some support from Michael Frost whose two wickets came at the cost of 136 runs from 32 overs.

  With a target of almost 600 runs, Emerging Ireland were never up to the task against a rested and confident West Indies Academy bowling attack led by Joshua Bishop who snagged 4-36 and Clarke, who bowled miserly for 2-16 from six overs.

  Lower-order batter Liam McCarty offered the most resistance with a knock of 35 not out. Otherwise, opener Stephen Doheny was the only other batter who got into the 20s, with 23.