India A beat Afghanistan A by 101 runs to reach tri-nation final

Half-centuries from Priyansh Arya, Tilak Varma and Kumar Kushagra and an all-round show from Nishant Sindhu helped India A beat Afghanistan A by 101 runs, sealing them a spot in the finals of the tri-nation series.

Heading into the match, India was under pressure, having won just one and losing two. However now, they have got themselves a spot in finals, with the Sri Lanka A vs Afghanistan A confirming the second finalist on Friday.

India A post a formidable total

Afghanistan A won the toss and opted to bowl first. Priyansh started off strongly with Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (38 in 28 balls, with four boundaries and two sixes), but the latter could not get to a big score and 75-run stand broken.

After Arya (58 in 32 balls, with nine fours and a six) and Ruturaj Gaikwad (30 in 31 balls, with four boundaries) were dismissed, Tilak (59 in 75 balls, with five fours) and Kushagra (58 in 67 balls, with five fours) stitching an 104-run stand.

Down the order, Nishant (21* in 26) and Vipraj Nigam (30 in 20 balls, with four boundaries) scored valuable cameos, taking India to 319/8. Faridoon Dawoodzai, Abdullah Ahmadzai and Farmanullah Safi took two wickets.

Sindhu stars as Afghanistan A’s chase falters

During the chase, Afghanistan was restricted to 70/3, but an 87-run stand between Faisal Shinozada (46 in 56 balls, with two fours and a six) and Bahir Shah (57 in 52 balls, with four boundaries and a six) helped Afghanistan fight back. It was not meant to be for Afghanistan as Sindhu (4/31) and Yash Thakur (2/48) helped India restrict them to 218 in 36.5 overs. Anshul Kamboj, Suryansh Shedge, Vipraj and Anukul Roy also got a wicket, with Sindhu given the ‘Player of the Match’ award. (ANI)

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