Zimbabwe takes on the West Indies in a One-Day International (ODI) match at the National Cricket Stadium in Grenada today at 13:30 GMT | 15:30 CAT.

A full house is expected for the match as the incoming New National Party government has declared today a national holiday to celebrate its return to power.

Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor will be hoping to repeat for Zimbabwe the sort of performances with the bat that he put up for the Chittagong Kings in the Bangladesh Premier League.

Asked in a pre-match news conference yesterday what the absence of key West Indies players captain Darren Sammy and former captain Chris Gayle – rested – and Marlon Samuels – injured – meant for Zimbabwe, Taylor said as much as they would have wanted to exploit the absence of the trio, they would not celebrate as they are aware of the depth of talent that the hosts have.

Today’s match is the first of three ODIs that will be played at the Chinese-built facility. The second match will be on Sunday at 13:30 GMT | 15:30 CAT and the third and final one on Tuesday at 13:30 GMT | 15:30 CAT.

The next day, the tour will move to Antigua for two Twenty20 International matches at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium and the match starts at 18:00 GMT | 20:00 CAT, before going to Barbados where a three-day warm-up match will mark the transition to the long-version of the game.

The first Test against hosts West Indies will be at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados, starting on the 12th of next month at 14:00 GMT | 10:00 CAT.
The tour’s last port of call is Windsor Park in Dominica where the second Test match is scheduled to be played from the 20th to the 24th of next month and the Test starts at 14:00 GMT | 10:00 CAT.

Zimbabwe will then return home for a brief period of rest and practice before they host the Tigers of Bangladesh.