India A defeated a self-destructing Sri Lanka A by eight runs despite Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s quiet 14 in his debut one-day cricket match in the tri-series opener at Dambulla on Tuesday.
Sri Lanka A, chasing 278 after skipper Sahan Arachchige scored an incredible 74 from 72 balls, had the match in their hands. However, India A won by a slim margin due to the dramatic loss of the last four wickets in ten balls, including three from pacer Arshad Khan in the penultimate over.
Ruturaj Gaikwad led India A to 277/6 with a calm 101. After the pacers, particularly Anshul Kamboj, conceded runs early in Sri Lanka A’s chase, the spin tandem of Ayush Badoni (2/46) and Anukul Roy (2/49) kept India in the match.
Sahan, an international cricket player, put his team on the verge of victory before Kamboj bowled them with a precise yorker. Towards the close of the innings, too many soft dismissals gave the Tilak Verma-led team an unexpected victory.
On June 11, India A will take on Afghanistan A at the same venue.
Niroshan Dickwella (47 off 45), who had an opening-wicket stand of 93 with another Sri Lankan international, Avishka Fernando (45 off 59), also made a comeback during the match. Against Badoni, neither of the openers was able to execute their slog sweep, and were dismissed.
After Sooryavanshi and Prabhsimran Singh were dismissed early, India A, who had chosen to bat, were forced into a mini-crisis at 16 for two in five overs.
However, to keep India afloat, captain Tilak Varma (60, 97b) and vice-captain Gaikwad (21st List A hundred in 112 balls) scored 150 runs for the fourth wicket.
Batting was a challenging task due to the strong winds that were constantly blowing across the ground and the pitch that helped the bowlers.
Initially, the Indian hitters were a little too slow, scoring most of their runs through singles and doubles. Gaikwad’s only act of aggressiveness occurred when he hit spinner Vijayakanth Viyaskanth for a six over mid-wicket, which also enabled him to reach his 50 in 66 balls.
He then demonstrated a greater sense of urgency to increase the score rate. Tilak was more concerned with striking his companion. Like his partner, the left-hander completed his fifty in 86 balls after hitting flinging pacer Garuka Sanketh for a six over mid-off.
Gaikwad reached his hundred with a single off left-arm spinner Wanuj Sahan, but as he attempted to clear the deep mid-wicket fence, he was dismissed by the same bowler.
As Tilak attempted to approach pacer Mohamed Shiraz (2/67), he was castled and quickly walked back as well. But as India surpassed 270 runs, Ayush Badoni (24, 18b) and Suryansh Shedge (26 not out, 14b) contributed 46 fast runs.
Sooryavanshi’s outing received a lot of attention, and he appeared to be in fantastic form as he hit three fours. His time was cut short, though, as he tried to bunt over mid-off off Shiraz, but it wound up in the hands of a diving Sahan Arachchige. Priyansh Arya scored 32 runs per ball, but he was run out because to a horrible error with Gaikwad.
