West Indies captain Brian Lara declined to write off struggling Zimbabwe ahead of the next two one-day internationals in Georgetown this weekend.
The West Indies won the first two games in the seven-match series by five wickets and 98 runs respectively in Antigua last weekend.
Zimbabwe were also beaten by a University of the West Indies Vice-Chancellor's XI in a tour match in Antigua on Wednesday, but Lara refused to consign the visitors to the scrapheap.
"They are playing decent cricket," Lara told reporters. "I think they've got a couple of very good, talented players in the team and something that they can work on for the future.
"I still think they are an international team, we expect them to compete and that's what they are doing."
Persistent showers in the days leading up to the matches have left ground authorities with a difficult job in trying to get the playing area ready.
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The West Indies had to cancel their Thursday afternoon net session at the Everest Club and Friday's planned training for both teams looked in grave doubt.
The hosts have omitted allrounders Dwayne Bravo and Ian Bradshaw to bring in uncapped opening batsman Sewnarine Chattergoon, left-arm spinner Dave Mohammed and paceman Tino Best.
Their batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan escaped unhurt from a vehicle accident on Thursday.
"I'm fine, no scrapes, no scratches, no bruises or anything and I'm fully available to play cricket this weekend," Sarwan told reporters.
Delon Nicholls, 24, the son of Test umpire Eddie Nicholls, was killed in Georgetown on Wednesday when the mini-bus he was driving collided with a truck.
