LINCOLN, New Zealand (CMC) — Rain dealt a blow to West Indies Under-19s’ preparations for their opening match of the ICC Youth World Cup when it washed out their final official warm-up against Zimbabwe here yesterday.
Persistent rain in the Christchurch region put paid to all four warm-up matches, leaving several sides without valuable final match practice for the January 13 to February 3 campaign.
West Indies Under-19s, the reigning champions, won their opening warm-up match on Monday when they beat Papua New Guinea by seven wickets at Lincoln Green.
They are set to do battle in Group A along with South Africa, Kenya and hosts New Zealand, and open the tournament with a clash against the Kiwis on Saturday in Mount Maunganui.
Afghanistan, Pakistan and New Zealand all scored wins in their opening warm-up fixtures on Monday.
The final set of preparation games are scheduled for Thursday, with former champions Australia taking on South Africa, Canada clashing with Ireland, India up against Kenya, and England facing Sri Lanka.