India A Beat Sri Lanka A by 8 Runs in Tri-Nation Series Thriller as Ruturaj Gaikwad Stars
One of the best 50-over matches in recent times! India A secured an exciting eight-run win over Sri Lanka A in the opening match of the Tri-Nation A series. The game kept changing from one side to the other, with Sri Lanka A looking in control for most of the chase. However, India A showed great awareness and made a strong comeback in the final overs to seal a thrilling victory.
Earlier in the day, India A won the toss and opted to bat first. The wonder kid Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Prabhsimran Singh were dismissed early, while Priyansh Arya, who got a start, had to sacrifice his wicket after a mix-up with Ruturaj Gaikwad. India A were struggling at 69/3 before Gaikwad and skipper Tilak Varma rebuilt with a fabulous 150-run fourth-wicket stand. Gaikwad hit a century in his 100th List-A game, while Varma started slowly but anchored the innings with a calm 60 off 97 balls. India A lost both of them in quick succession, and useful cameos from Ayush Badoni and Suryansh Shedge helped them reach 277/6.
For Sri Lanka A, Mohamed Shiraz picked up two wickets, including that of Sooryavanshi, but was expensive. Chamika Karunaratne, Wanuja Sahan and Garuka Sanketh each picked up a wicket. Experienced openers Niroshan Dickwella and Avishka Fernando gave Sri Lanka a solid start, adding 93 runs for the first wicket. Ayush Badoni (2/46) struck with his golden arm to get rid of both set batters in their 40s post the first drinks break.
India A Hold Nerve in Final Overs to Seal Thrilling Eight-Run Win Over Sri Lanka A
Vipraj Nigam then joined the party to bamboozle Nuwanidu Fernando to leave the hosts in a spot of bother at 109/3. Sadeera Samarawickrama and Sahan Arachchige added 78 runs for the 4th wicket, bringing the team back into the game. Anukul Roy (2/49) was taken to the cleaners by Sadeera in one over but had his man on the last ball, with the right-hander throwing his wicket away in the 40s. Arachchige was the lone warrior with wickets tumbling at the other end and was finding the regular boundaries to keep the side in the hunt.
He scored 74 off 72 balls but had no response to Anshuk Kamboj's yorker in the 48th over. The likes of Chamika Karunaratne and Wanuja Sahan gave him some support, with the former really struggling to get away and getting holed out off Vipraj (2/46). Wanuja was going really well, scoring 23 off 16 balls and hitting some handy boundaries to drag the game back completely in Sri Lanka A's court.
With 22 needed off 24 balls, Arshad Khan gave away only 5 runs in the 47th over, before Kamboj (1/47) conceded 7 runs and dismissed the Lankan skipper in the next over. Still, Sri Lanka A only needed 10 off 12 balls, but Arshad (2/24) bowled a brilliant penultimate over to give only 1 run and dismiss the tailenders, while he also saw Ruturaj Gaikwad show the presence of mind to run out the key batter Wanuja Sahan in between the chaos to pull off a stunning win for India A.