Windies face Zimbabwe, Warwickshire in warm-ups

ST JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – West Indies will use unofficial Twenty20 games against minnows Zimbabwe in Sharjah as part of their preparation for next month’s T20 World Cup in India, the West Indies Cricket Board announced yesterday.

The Caribbean side will take on Zimbabwe on Saturday and then again next Monday, with both games scheduled for the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.

West Indies are currently in Dubai for a preparation camp ahead of the March 8 to April 3 T20 World Cup.

They will also play two T20s against English County team Warwickshire at the ICC Global Cricket Academy on March 4 and 6.

Following the fixtures, West Indies will fly to Kolkata on March 7 where they play official warm-up games against India on March 10 and against Australia on March 13.

West Indies have been drawn in Group 1 of the Super 10 preliminary round stage where they will face England, South Africa and Sri Lanka.

The group will be completed by either Afghanistan, Hong Kong, Scotland or Zimbabwe, who battle in a pre-tournament round of qualifiers.

West Indies are one of the solid favourites heading into the tournament, after winning the title four years ago in Sri Lanka and reaching the semi-finals in Bangladesh in 2014.