Sri Lanka blow hot, blow cold

Skipper Arachchige’s effort in vain as home team squanders sound start given by Dickwella and Fernando 

By M. Shamil Amit

A captain’s knock of 74 in 72 balls inclusive of six boundaries and two sixes was all in vain as it could not prevent India A from pulling off an eight-run win in the first match of Tri-Nation series featuring India A, Afghanistan A and host Sri Lanka A played at the Rangiri Dambulla Stadium yesterday.

Sri Lanka A in pursuit of 278 run target was given a sound start of 93 runs in 99 balls by openers Niroshan Dickwella and Avishka Fernando.

But the separation of the pair had the host side losing two quick wickets for the addition of 16 run before Sadeera Samarawickrama and skipper Sahan Arachchige began a rescue act and the pair added 78 runs for the fourth wicket which came to an end with the dismissal of Sadeera who hit 46. 

Despite Sri Lanka A again losing wickets at regular intervals skipper Arachchige found a reliable partner in Wanuja Sahan and made steady progress but the dismissal of Wanuja Sri Lanka A slumped to 262 for 7 needing 16 runs from 16 balls.

But the home team lost the last three wickets for the addition of just seven runs bowled out for 269 runs for India A to begin their campaign on a winning note.

Earlier in the day India A skipper Tilak Varma winning the toss and electing to take first lease of the wicket underwent an early setback as they lost two quick wickets that included the young batting sensation Vaibhav Sooriyavanshi who hit the first ball he faced for four to the cover boundary and was out for 14.

They recovered thanks to Ruturaj Gaikwad and Priyansha Arya who together put on 53 runs for the third wicket.

Gaikwad hit 101 in 114 balls with six boundaries and three sixes sharing a valuable 150 runs stand for the fifth wicket with skipper Tilak Varma.

Varma did not last long being dismissed for 60 that included two boundaries and a six as India A ended their innings making a challenging score of 277 for 6.

Medium pace bowler Garuka Sanketh was guilty of conceding seven of the 16 wide balls sent down by the Sri Lanka bowlers.

India A will now meet Afghanistan A in the second match of the tournament tomorrow.

Scores:

India A 277 for 6 in 50 overs (Viabhav Sooryavanshi 14, Ruturaj Gaikwad

101, Tilak Varma 60, Priyansh Arya 32, Ayush Badoni 24, Suryansh Shedge 26 n.o.: Mohamed Shiraz 2/67)

Sri Lanka A 269 in 49.5 overs (Sahan Arachchige 74, Niroshan Dickwella 47, Sadeera Samarawickrama 46, Avishka Fernando 45, Wanuja Sahan 23: Arshad Khan 2/24, Ayush Badoni 2/46, Vipraj Nigam 2/46, Anukul Roy 2/49)