India A defeated Afghanistan A by 101 runs to enter the final of the triangular A series. cricket news
New Delhi: After half-centuries from Priyansh Arya, Tilak Verma and Kumar Kushagra, Nishant Sindhu took four wickets as India A sealed their place in the final of the triangular A series with a resounding 101-run win over Afghanistan A in Dambulla on Wednesday.After posting a strong score of 319/9 in 50 overs, India A bowled out Afghanistan A for 218 runs in 36.5 overs with a superior net run rate of +0.797 to enter the final. India A will now face either Sri Lanka A or Afghanistan A in the final on June 21 in Dambulla. Coming to bat first, India A was given a great start by openers Priyansh Arya and Vaibhav Suryavanshi, who added 75 runs in just 48 balls for the first wicket.Suryavanshi survived an early scare when a brilliant catch at point was declared not out by the third umpire and the youngster took full advantage of it by scoring 38 off 28 balls with four fours and two sixes, before Faridoon Dawoodzai finally ended his tenure.Arya continued the attack and scored a fluent half-century. The left-handed batsman hit nine fours and a six in his innings of 58 runs in 42 balls, which laid a strong platform for the middle order.Ruturaj Gaikwad scored 30 before India A captain Tilak Verma and wicketkeeper-batsman Kumar Kushagra took over the innings.Both made an important partnership of 104 runs for the fourth wicket. Verma opened the innings with 59 off 75 balls, while Kushagra impressed with 58 off 67 balls in his first appearance of the series.After both the set batsmen were out, Vipraj Nigam played a quickfire 30 off just 20 balls, while Nishant Sindhu remained unbeaten on 21, helping India A cross the 300-run mark.For Afghanistan A, Faridoon Dawoodzai, Abdullah Ahmadzai and Farmanullah Safi took two wickets each.Chasing 320, Afghanistan A never recovered after losing wickets at regular intervals.Yash Thakur Hasan shocked Isaakhil by dismissing him early, while Anshul Kamboj got the breakthrough when Vaibhav Suryavanshi completed a brilliant catch to dismiss Khalid Taniwal in the second attempt.Captain Imran Mir made a comeback after scoring 32 runs, but Nishant Sindhu trapped him with the help of a well-considered catch by Suryansh Shedge.Afghanistan A’s only meaningful resistance came through Faisal Shinozada and Bahir Shah. The pair added 87 runs for the fourth wicket and continued the chase for a short while.Bahir led the counter-attack and scored a brilliant inning of 57 runs in 52 balls with the help of four fours and a six, while Faisal missed the half-century after scoring 46 runs.The turning point came when Anukul Roy dismissed Faisal and soon after Vipraj Nigam dismissed Bahir. Once the partnership broke, Afghanistan A’s lower order offered little resistance.After this, Sindhu dismissed Shams ur Rehman, Abdullah Ahmedzai and Zaheer Khan and took 4 wickets for 31 runs in 6.5 overs.Yash Thakur took two wickets, while Kamboj, Roy, Nigam and Shedge got one wicket each.Afghanistan A were eventually bowled out for 218, giving India A a comprehensive 101-run win.