India A pulled off an escape with some nerves of steel in their clash against Sri Lanka A in Dambulla. Ruturaj Gaikwad scored a century while captain Tilak Varma smashed 50 to power the visitors to 277. Sri Lanka looked set for victory, but lost their last four wickets in 10 balls to suffer a 8-run defeat.
India A captain Tilak Varma won the toss and opted to bat first in their tri-series opener against Sri Lanka. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi got off to a flyer but could not sustain his IPL heroics in the 50-over format. Prabhsimran Singh and Priyansh Arya also troubled to make an impact, with the visitors slipping to 69/3.
Captain Tilak Varma and Ruturaj Gaikwad then went about rebuilding the innings. The left-hander played anchor while Gaikwad continued his fine List A record with yet another century. Some late order fireworks from Ayush Badoni and Suryansh Shedge saw the Men in Blue post a competitive 277/6.
In response, Sri Lanka got off to a flyer thanks to the experienced pair of Niroshan Dickwella and Avishka Fernando. Ayush Badoni struck twice in quick succession to bring the visitors back into the contest. Sri Lanka then raced to 187/3, comfortably needing less than a run a ball wtih Sadeera Samarawickrama and Sahan Arachchige at the crease.
However a tight bowling effort, some inspired fielding and a case of nerves from the Sri Lankan batters ensured that it was India who came out of top. The hosts lost their last 4 wickets for 7 runs, despite only needing 10 from the last 12 balls.