India A vs Sri Lanka A: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi fails, Ruturaj Gaikwad fires and Arshad Khan’s lethal brilliance seals thriller

NEW DELHI: India A opened their Tri-Nation Series campaign with a thrilling eight-wicket victory over Sri Lanka A in Dambulla on Tuesday thanks to a dramatic turnaround in the closing overs.The visitors looked headed for defeat when Sri Lanka A captain Sahan Arachchige played a brilliant knock of 74 off 72 balls to put his team in complete control of the chase of 278. But India A held their nerve and staged a stunning comeback to wrest victory from the clutches of defeat. Sri Lanka A in control after Arachchige’s masterclassChasing 278, Sri Lanka A got off to a solid start with Niroshan Dickwell (47) and Avishka Fernando (45) adding 93 runs for the opening wicket.Although Ayush Badoni removed both the openers, Arachchige kept Sri Lanka A on course with a composed innings. He found support from the middle order and later Wanuja Sahan as the hosts closed in on the target.At one stage, Sri Lanka A needed just 22 runs from the last four overs with four wickets in hand and appeared to have one foot over the finish line.Kamboja’s yorker is a game changerThe turning point came in the 48th over.With Sri Lanka needing 16 runs from 16 balls, Anshul Kamboj produced a perfect yorker to bowl a well-set Arachchige for 74. The wicket gave India A a much-needed opening and the pressure suddenly shifted back to the Sri Lankan batsmen.Kamboja’s breakthrough injected fresh faith into the Indian camp and set up a thrilling finish.Arshad Khan‘s final-over heroicsArshad Khan then took the lead at the death and produced a match-winning spell.Sri Lanka A needed only 10 runs from the last two overs and still had three wickets in hand. However, Arshad struck twice in quick succession in the 49th over. Caught Vijayakanth Viyaskanth lbw before Ruturaj Gaikwad’s sharp lunge removed Wanuja Sahan who threatened to take the game away from India.The wickets left Sri Lanka A and exposed the tail.Arshad then made a comeback in the final over, taking three wickets as Sri Lanka A lost the last four wickets in the space of just 10 deliveries to give India A an unlikely victory.Gaikwad’s century anchors India’s inningsEarlier, India A recovered from a poor start to post 277 for six.Much focus was on teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, but his List A first innings for India A ended on 14. Prabhsimran Singh also departed cheaply as India slumped to 16 for two.Vice-captain Ruturaj Gaikwad leveled the innings with a brilliant 101 off 114 balls, his 21st List A century. Alongside skipper Tilak Varma (60), he put together a decisive 150-run partnership for the fourth wicket.The pair batted patiently in challenging conditions before picking up speed later in the innings.Badoni and Shedge provide finishing touchesAfter the departures of Gaikwad and Tilak, valuable late runs were added by Ayush Badoni (24 off 18) and Suryansh Shedge (26 not out off 14).Their quick-fire stand of 46 runs helped India A cross the 270-run mark, which proved to be enough in the end.India A will next face Afghanistan A on June 11 as they look to build on their dramatic opening win in the tri-series.