The opening day of the 2026 West Indies Championship delivered a standout individual performance from 22-year-old former West Indies Under-19 skipper Ackeem Auguste, who fell just five runs short of a century in his first elite fixture following an early-year medical procedure. Playing for the Windward Islands against defending champions Guyana at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound, Antigua & Barbuda on April 13, the elegant left-handed batter crafted a patient 95 from 177 deliveries, anchoring his side’s innings through testing early conditions.
After Windward Islands won the toss and elected to bat, Auguste steered the team through tricky early stages of the innings, building critical middle-order partnerships to steady the innings. He combined for a 79-run stand with Kavem Hodge, followed by a 61-run union with captain Sunil Ambris that lifted the side to 148 for 3, putting them in a strong position after the loss of early wickets. Over four and a half hours at the crease, Auguste showcased his classical batting technique, striking 12 boundaries around the ground before he was eventually dismissed.
In post-innings comments, Auguste broke down the challenges he faced during his knock, noting that Guyana’s bowling attack set a deliberate strategy of delivering wide of the stumps to force him into errors. This game plan forced the young batter to adjust his approach early on, exercising patience rather than chasing loose deliveries. Compounding the challenge was the playing surface, which Auguste described as tacky in the opening session, making it difficult to drive through the line of the ball.
“The wicket was a little difficult,” Auguste explained. “At the start, it was a bit tacky, so I was unable to hit through the line of the ball. So it kind of forced me to change my batting plan, and wait until the bowlers came a little closer for me to take it off. Then when the spinners came on, I was able to score a bit more freely, and I capitalised on that.”
Lower-order batter Ryan John contributed a useful 42 runs to push the Windward Islands total higher, but both Auguste and John were eventually dismissed by left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie, who turned in a match-winning six-wicket haul for Guyana. Among Motie’s other wickets were Shadrack Descarte, who scored 15, and wicketkeeper Noelle Leo, who fell for a duck. Windward Islands were eventually bowled out for 286 all out at the close of the first day’s play.
Before stumps were called on the opening day of the four-day first-class fixture, Guyana managed to face one full over, scoring two runs without losing a wicket. The defending champions head into day two trailing by 284 runs, with all 10 wickets still in hand to chase down the target. Auguste’s near-century, coming off the back of his recovery from a medical procedure, has already been hailed as a promising sign for the young batter’s future in top-flight West Indies cricket.