He might no longer by the captain of the West Indies but Jason Holder still has a lot to contribute to the success of the team going forward.

Jason Holder and Darren Bravo have been recalled to the West Indies squad for the first Test against Sri Lanka set for March 21-25, 2021.

If the West Indies do a better job of rotating the strike, combining that with their power-hitting would result in the team posting much higher scores. That is the belief of Shai Hope, who scored his 10^th ODI century in the West Indies’ eight-wicket win over Sri Lanka on Wednesday.

Chasing a relatively modest target of 233, the West Indies eased to 236 for 2 with 18 balls to spare. Hope hit 12 fours and a six while scoring 110 runs from only 133 balls at a strike rate of 82.71.

In the opening stand between Hope and Evin Lewis of 143 runs, the effort to rotate the strike was more evident than in the recent past. The first 50 came up in just 53 balls and while the scoring rate slowed a bit, the 100-run partnership took only 134 balls.

However, according to the Barbadian batsman, the West Indies can do a lot better.

“There is definitely a lot of improvements that can be made,” said Hope during a press conference on Thursday on the eve of the second match against Sri Lanka at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua.

“We always look at ourselves as power hitters, ball beaters, but there is so much more to our game.

“If we can merge the two together, limit the dot balls along with the boundary balls that will come along, then we can consistently get big totals.”

He revealed that doing a better job rotating the strike is something that the team has been working on behind the scenes, but conceded that there is still a long way to go.

“WE have been working on picking up these singles, working on our singles options, making sure we have a clear mind on how we are going to play a particular bowler to get those singles to keep the scoreboard ticking over,” he said.

“It’s a work in progress but we are going to get there.”

Shai Hope celebrated his return to international cricket on Wednesday with his 10^th ODI century that helped the West Indies cruise to a crushing eight-wicket victory over Sri Lanka at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua.

A century from Shai Hope and a half-century from Evin Lewis helped West Indies cruise to a comfortable eight-wicket victory over Sri Lanka with 18 balls to spare at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium and take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

Fabian Allen credits his confidence for his stand out performance against Sri Lanka on Sunday night that helped the West Indies win the third and final match of the T20 series by three wickets and subsequently take the series 2-1.

Fabian Allen smashed three sixes off the penultimate over of the match to hand the West Indies a hard-fought three-wicket win over Sri Lanka at the Coolidge Cricket Ground this evening.

The West Indies, who took the series 2-1, was staring possible defeat in the face at 105-7 after 17 overs, needing 27 from the last 18 balls but with only Kevin Sinclair and Obed McCoy to come. With Jason Holder at the other end and the West Indies needing 20 from the last two overs, Allen hit the first ball of the 19^th over bowled by Akila Dananjaya for six and then ran two leg byes off the second.

He then smashed the third ball for six and then took a single off the fourth. Holder took a single from the fifth, leaving Allen to face the last ball of the over with four runs needed for victory. Allen duly obliged with his third six of the over to end unbeaten on 21 off just six balls.

Holder was not out on 14.

Chasing 132 for victory, the West Indies were put in a spin by Hasaranga de Silva 2-13 and Lakshan Sandakan 3-29, who threatened to take the match away from the home side. The former removed Evin Lewis for 21 and Lendl Simmons for 26, both batsmen playing injudicious shots to the bowler, who prior to the start, had planned to see off.

Sandakan and Dushmantha Chameera (2-23) then combined to rip the heart out of the West Indies middle order. Sandakan bowled Chris Gayle for 13 early in the piece and then returned to bowl Rovman Powell for seven and then getting Dwayne Bravo caught at short fine leg for a golden duck from consecutive deliveries as the match headed towards a thrilling climax.  

Chameera had Kieron Pollard caught behind for a duck and then bowled Nicholas Pooran for 23 to leave the West Indies in a spot of bother at 95 for 5.

Dananjaya ended with regrettable figures of 0-53 from his four overs.

Earlier, an unbeaten fifth-wicket partnership of 85 from 63 balls between Dinesh Chandimal and Ashen Bandara helped take Sri Lanka from 46 for 4, after the West Indies bowlers had combined to restrict the visitors to 46 for 4 mid-way the 10^th over.

The pair took 13 off Dwayne Bravo’s final over to push the score to produce the highest fifth-wicket partnership for Sri Lanka to reach 131 for 4.

Chandimal’s unbeaten score of 54 came off 46 balls. He only hit three fours as he and his fellow batsmen were made to work hard by the West Indies bowlers, who produced a disciplined display.

Bandara’s 44 not out came from 35 balls hitting three fours and two sixes.

So restrictive was the home side’s attack they limited Sri Lanka to only eight fours and two sixes over the course of the 20-over allotment.

Fabian Allen, who returned figures of 1-13 from his four overs, took the first Sri Lankan wicket when he took a brilliant return catch to dismiss Danushka Gunathilaka for nine with only 10 runs on the board.

Nirsoshan Dickwella provided Kevin Sinclair (1-19) with his second wicket of the series caught by Jason Holder at wide mid-on for four as Sri Lanka crept to 15 for 2 in the fourth over.

Sinclair returned the favour when he took Pathum Nissanka at mid-off of Holder’s (1-27) short-of-a-length delivery for five to leave Sri Lanka struggling at 27 for 3.

Chandimal and Captain Angelo Matthews began to repair the damage with a stand of 19 when Matthews was caught behind off an Obed McCoy (1-29) delivery for 11. However, his dismissal opened the door to the record stand that took Sri Lanka’s to a competitive total at the Coolidge Cricket Ground.

The West Indies will now turn their attention to the ODI Series set to begin at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium at North Sound on March 10, 2021.

In a bizarre game of fluctuating fortunes at the Coolidge Cricket Ground in which a bowler took a hat-trick and then got hit it for six sixes in an over, the West Indies battled to a four-wicket win against Sri Lanka with 41 balls to spare.

Chasing a modest total of 132, the West Indies, who took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series, started strong as Evin Lewis hit three sixes off the first over bowled by Angelo Matthews that yielded 19 runs.

However, in the fourth over with the home side sailing merrily along at 52 without loss, the match evolved into an even more entertaining spectacle.

Lendl Simmons had hit a six and a four off from the first two balls of the third over bowled by Dushmantha Chameera that yielded 14 runs. At the end of the over West Indies were 48-0 but it was the start of the most bizarre period of play in the match.

It all began with Lewis hitting Akila Dananjaya’s first ball of the fourth over for four as the West Indies raced to 52-0.

Lewis was caught in the deep for 28 off Dananjaya’s second ball, Gayle was trapped lbw first ball before Nicholas Pooran’s wicket completed the hat-trick caught behind off a thin edge. In three balls the West Indies had slipped from 52-0 to 52-3.

Lendl Simmons hit a six and a four before Hasangara de Silva trapped him lbw for 26. The West Indies were then 62 for 4.

There was another dramatic twist in over number six, Dananjaya’s third.

With Captain Kieron Pollard and Jason Holder at the crease and the West Indies still needing 70 runs, Pollard went on the offensive hitting the spinner for six consecutive sixes rushing to 38 from 10 balls.

The match would swing again in the seventh when Hasangara trapped Pollard lbw for 38 and then Fabian Allen for a duck with consecutive balls as both players failed to read the spinner.

Dwayne Bravo, who was unbeaten on four at the end, survived the hat-trick ball and together with Holder, who was 29 not out, produced an unbroken stand of 31 after Holder drove Pradeep for six over long-on to seal the victory.

Hasangara ended with 3-12. Dananjaya’s figures that read 3-17 after two overs ended with 3-62.

Pollard had won the toss and put Sri Lanka into bat. The visitors lost their first wicket at 20 when Pollard diving to his right pulled off a spectacular catch at short midwicket to dismiss Danushka Gunathilaka for four and hand debutant Kevin Sinclair his first international wicket.

Niroshan Dickwella (33) and Pathum Nissanka (39) put on 51 for the second wicket but there were no other noteworthy partnerships for the Sri Lankans who crawled to 132 for 9 from their allotment of 20 overs.

Obed McCoy was the best of the West Indies bowlers with 2-25 and there was a wicket each for Jason Holder, Allen, Sinclair, Dwayne Bravo and Fidel Edwards, who bowled tight lines and lengths, hardly giving anything away to the Sri Lankan batsmen.

The West Indies have named 26 players to participate in a “Best v Best” four-day practice match in preparation for the upcoming Test series against Sri Lanka.

Devon Thomas made a career-best 117 to guide Leeward Islands Hurricanes to a seven-wicket win over Barbados Pride in the CG Insurance Super50 Cup fifth-place playoff.

Sunil Ambris, captain of the Windward Islands Volcanoes is not overly concerned about the team’s current form going into tomorrow’s semi-finals of the CG Insurance Super 50 against the Guyana Jaguars. However, he said he is expecting his team to be better with the bat if they are to avenge their defeat earlier this week to the Jaguars.

When the teams met on Monday, the final match of the preliminary round, the Jaguars walloped the Volcanoes, who plunged to a nine-wicket defeat. However, Ambris said his team is ready to dust itself off and go to battle once again.

“We started off (the season) really well. I think we played two really poor matches but the camaraderie in the team is still pretty good, the guys are still high-spirited and looking forward to the semi-finals,” he said, adding that he wants the team to get off to a better start with the bat, something that we have been struggling with throughout the season.

“That’s something that we definitely need to address,” he said.

The Volcanoes will be strengthened by the inclusion of Kavem Hodge and Ambris is delighted to have him in the team for the must-win encounter.

“He brings a lot. He is one of the better players in the team. He is an all-rounder. He is more than likely give us 10 overs and he is one of the better batters in the team and he has a lot of experience being a part of the Windward Islands team for the longest while and he knows what it feels like to win a championship, so he will definitely bring a lot to the team,” he said.

Notwithstanding the Guyana Jaguars’ crushing nine-wicket victory over the Windward Islands Volcanoes in the final preliminary round match on Monday, Captain Leon Johnson says he has no intention of underestimating their opponents when the two teams meet again in the second semi-final tomorrow.

Failing with the bat was all the motivation Andre McCarthy needed to inspire him to a match-winning performance with the ball against the Barbados Pride on Sunday.

Trinidad and Tobago Red Force recorded their fifth win in a row to end the preliminary round of the CG Insurance Super50 Cup with a perfect record and 20 points.

A last-wicket stand of 85 between Man-of-the-Match Jeavor Royal and Fabian Allen paved the way for Jamaica Scorpions close six-run-win by Duckworth/Lewis over the Leeward Islands Hurricanes earlier today.