Windies sweat on Holder's fitness

West Indies captain Jason Holder is confident of playing in their do-or-die match against South Africa on Saturday morning (AEST) despite suffering a hamstring injury earlier this week.

Holder bowled just two overs during Australia's run chase in Barbados on Wednesday (AEST) before leaving the field with a left hamstring strain, putting his participation in the final preliminary match of the ODI tri-series in doubt.

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The 24-year-old had been expected to undergo scans on the injury on Wednesday, but the Windies say he will continue to receive treatment and will be assessed on the morning of the match.

Speaking on match eve, the skipper was bullish about his chances of playing.

"I'm receiving treatment and am feeling much better than I expected," he said. "I will decide tomorrow, but I feel great about playing against South Africa."

The winner of the clash between the Windies and the Proteas at Kensington Oval will go on to play Australia in the tri-series final 48 hours later.

The Windies have not named an extra player in their squad as cover for Holder, meaning Shannon Gabriel is the only other frontline fast bowler available for selection. Jamaican Jerome Taylor was part of a 14-man squad for the matches in Guyana and St Kitts earlier this month, but he was left out for the Barbados leg of the series.

Should Holder be ruled out, one of off-spinning allrounder Ashley Nurse and  - most probably - medium-pace allrounder Jonathan Carter will come into the side and boost an attack led by spinners Sunil Narine and Sulieman Benn, speedster Gabriel and medium-pacer Carlos Brathwaite.

Holder’s comments at Windies training on Friday morning (AEST) was a boost for the Windies, while the sight of allrounder Brathwaite experimenting with an altitude training mask during the session also caught the eye of onlookers.

The Windies would have been buoyed by their strong performance against Australia earlier this week, the narrow loss coming on the back of victories against both the Aussies and South Africa earlier in the series.

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The wins in Guyana and St Kitts earned the Windies five valuable points in the International Cricket Council's ODI rankings, moving them seven points clear of ninth-placed Pakistan with around 15 months before the cut-off period for the 2019 World Cup in the UK.

Hosts England and the top seven other ranked teams as of September 30 next year will automatically qualify for the tournament, while the teams ranked 9-12 will have to compete in a qualifier tournament in Bangladesh in March and April 2018, with the top two teams there to progress to the World Cup.

Windies coach Phil Simmons says he's confident his side can do enough to secure automatic qualification.

"The confidence is there and everybody seems to be doing what is necessary," Simmons said after the loss to Australia.

"It's been great for me because the work that the guys have put in over the past five or six weeks has been excellent.

"In a competition with the No.1 and No.3 in the world and to still be in the competition, looking to be in the final ... is what we spoke about at the start of the tournament.

"We need to make sure we're winning games against these top teams in order to be moving up the table.

"Most of the guys have put their hands up and said 'we want to come up the table with you'. So it's great to see."