A strong batting effort and left-arm spinner Nishant Sindhu’s four-wicket haul put India A in the final of the tri-series in Dambulla. India have four points and though Afghanistan can match that by beating Sri Lanka in their final league game, courtesy India’s 101-run win on Wednesday — the net run-rate has gone up to 0.597 — making it impossible to better. In all likelihood, India A will face Sri Lanka A in the final on Sunday.
In a must-win fixture against Afghanistan A on Wednesday, India were once again made to bat first and half-centuries from Priyansh Arya (58), Tilak Varma (59) and Kumar Kushagra (58) powered them to 319/9. And like in the previous fixture between the two teams, despite the steep target, Afghanistan went for it before losing their way in the middle as India’s spinners took control of the game.
India bowlers responded well in trying circumstances like they have done right through the tournament. But the difference being it happened in the middle-overs rather than in the end.
For the fourth consecutive innings, young batting sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi got down to doing what he knows best — go hammer and tongs at the top – but on Wednesday he needed help from Afghanistan. Given a life even before he got off the mark, thanks to a contentious decision from the third umpire, he was dropped on 8. But he was again dismissed inside the powerplay, falling for 38 in the eighth over to another short delivery — a compulsive hook and the resultant top-edge finding the fielder at point.
While Sooryavanshi was at it, it was Arya, brought back into the XI, who was more commanding. The boundaries flowed freely, in particular the lofted drives doing the bulk of his scoring. Like Sooryavanshi, Arya is a batsmen who intends on batting with intent right-through and in 50-overs, where there is scope to bat in different gears and build a high score, he missed an opportunity. Caught at point for a tame end.
Then came Ruturaj Gaikwad and Tilak Varma, two batsmen who have had contrasting runs this series. If Gaikwad, tailor made for the format, went about constructing his innings before falling for 30, Varma’s knock showed why he still has lot to develop as a batsman. In these conditions spinners call the shots in the middle-overs, and while the left-hander’s strength lies square on either side off the pitch, he hasn’t showed the intent to make it count. During his 59 off 75, Varma showed he wasn’t in complete control.
Beyond them all, it was Kumar Kushagra whose innings stood out. Coming in place of Prabhsimran Singh, he slotted in the middle-order and appeared a batsman who looked in total control. The 21-year-old remains among the highly-rated in the domestic circuit and through the course of his knock he showed evidence of his skill. Good with his feet, he played the spinners through the gaps and remained totally busy throughout his stay.
And with the ball, it wasn’t all smooth. In the previous fixture, Afghanistan’s top-order had done a commendable job as they kept them ahead of the asking rate and won the DLS method. Here, the challenge was to replicate it to the distance and they appeared ready for it before the Indian spinners led by Nishant Sindhu took the matter in their own hands. The Haryana all-rounder is a constant figure in the fringes, in particular in the white-ball arena, where his batting and left-arm spin are deemed a good back-up option should a window open up in the India senior set-up. Once he provided the control in the middle, the likes of Vipraj Nigam, Anukul Roy, Suryansh Shedge all took wickets before Sindhu wrapped up Afghanistan’s innings in the 37th over to give a good net run-rate boost.
Brief scores: India A 319/9 in 50 ovs (Tilak Varma 59, Priyansh Arya 58, Kumar Kushagra 58) bt Afghanistan A 218 in 36.5 ovs (Bahir Shah 57, Faisal Shinozada 46; Nishant Sindhu 4/31).
