Saint Lucian batter Ackeem Auguste scored his third consecutive half-century over the weekend, but his best efforts could not save the West Indies Academy from going down to Sri Lanka Emerging Players in their first 50-over match. Auguste is the leading run-scorer in the series, which included two four-day contests. West Indies and Sri Lanka each won one of those two matches.
At the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound, Antigua & Barbuda, Auguste hit 66 to lead the West Indies to 237 all out in 46.2 overs. The 21-year-old brought his milestone up with his sixth four off the 57th delivery he faced. West Indies lost three wickets for 40 runs, but Auguste and Carlon Bowen-Tuckett stitched together an 88-run partnership to bring the score back to respectability.
That was the only stand of at least 40 for the home team, though. Bowen-Tuckett was next out for 55, with the score at 145. Rivaldo Clarke hung about for 51 runs, and he fell with the tally 220-7.
The Sri Lankans needed just 39.4 overs to seize victory. They overhauled the target for the loss of only five wickets. Opener Nipun Dhananjaya hit 88 and Ahan Wickramasinghe stroked a breezy 103 from just 79 balls to take the lead in the three-match limited over series, which continues on Tuesday.
In three matches and four innings so far in this series, Auguste has scores of 41, 82, 50 and 66. With 239 runs, he is the leading scorer on the tour. The former West Indies Under-19 captain and Saint Lucia Cricket High Performance Centre inductee is in a rich vein of form, and the young West Indians will be keen to see him continue in that vein.
