The West Indies Women will, with fingers crossed, be hoping South Africa will defeat India and Bangladesh upset England, in the coming days after rain forced the abandonment of their match against South Africa at Basin Reserve on Wednesday night.

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."