WI tour to Australia 2024: DaSilva, Hodge, Sinclair shine on final day of drawn warmup game

A century from Joshua Da Silva, Kavem Hodge’s 99, and three quick-fire wickets from Kevin Sinclair were the highlights for West Indies on day 3 of their 3-day warmup match against a Cricket Australia XI team, which ended in a draw in the wee hours of Friday.
After being moved up the order, DaSilva resumed the day at the crease on 55 off 95 deliveries, alongside Kavem Hodge on 44 off 67 balls, and went on to bring up his fine century in 156 deliveries. However, shortly after, DaSilva was caught at midwicket for 105 off 158 balls; but there wasn’t much for the visitors to worry about, as Hodge held down the other end.
Unfortunately, Hodge missed out on the practice century after he was bowled by Doug Warren for 99 off 174 deliveries.
Justin Greaves, who entered after DaSilva departed, went on to add 41 runs off 72 balls, while Zachary McCaskie later pitched in with 25 from 28 balls before the West Indies declared on 315/5, with a lead of 392.

The Cricket Australia XI had a solid start, with Tim Ward and Jayden Godwin putting up a pacy 76 in 15 overs for the first wicket. But after an expensive first over, Kevin Sinclair rebounded well to dismiss Godwin for 33 from 47 balls. Then, in his next over, Ward went for a big heave off Sinclair’s bowling, but Tagenarine Chanderpaul’s safe pair of hands sent Ward back for 39 off 52 deliveries.
Sinclair, who dismissed Teague Wyllie for 4 runs from 17 balls, eventually finished with figures of 3 for 38 from 12 overs, as the Australians got to 149-5 by close of play to force the draw. Gudakesh Motie and Justin Graves were also among the wickets, taking 1-34 from 9 and 1-14 from 5 respectively.

Following the match, Sinclair deemed the preparation as good, and expressed his readiness to make his Test debut. “Yeah! Definitely! It’s always good to be among the wickets once again. Good practice, good preparation heading into the first Test. So, I must say I had enough. I didn’t get much batting, but, to be honest, I get what I want out of the practice match,” Sinclair shared. “It’s always something in the pitch for the spinners. It’s just hitting good areas, bringing the batsman forward, and challenging the defence (as much) as possible.”
The Guyanese spinner went on to add about a possible Test debut next week: “It’s up to the management, but I always up and ready. You know, once my name call, I’m ready to deliver the goods for the team, and give it my all on the field; that’s all.”
The first Test in the 2- match series against Australia is set for January 17th to 21st (16th to 20th in the Caribbean), while the second Test will run from January 25th to 29th (24th to 28th in the Caribbean).