Tri Nation ODI Series Final: Sooriyavanshi guides India A to title win

By M. Shamil Amit

A swashbuckling 29-ball knock of 94, inclusive of ten boundaries and eight towering sixes by batting sensation Vaibhav Sooriyavanshi, laid the foundation for India A to coast to a comfortable 66-run win over host side Sri Lanka A in the final of the Sri Lanka Tri-Nation ODI series played at the Rangiri Dambulla Stadium yesterday to emerge champions.

Sri Lanka A, in pursuit of a formidable target of 378 runs, put themselves in a spot of bother in the early stages of their run chase as they lost three early wickets before the completion of the tenth over with the score on 75.

Sadeera Samarawickrama, who made 52, and skipper Sahan Arachchige began a recovery act with the pair sharing a 53-run stand for the fourth wicket. Later, Wanuja Sahan, who made a top knock of 62, along with Vijayakanth Viyaskanth together shared 77 runs for the seventh wicket, putting in some resistance to bring some respectability to the side’s innings.

The effort put in by them proved to be in vain as the separation of the duo saw Sri Lanka A losing their last three wickets cheaply to be bowled out for 311.

Earlier in the day, India A, invited to take first lease of the wicket, saw young Vaibhav Sooriyavanshi coming back to form and going on the rampage as he sent the Sri Lanka A bowlers on a leather hunt.

Sooriyavanshi faced no threat at all as he began accumulating runs at will. He reached his half-ton in record time, taking just 11 balls to become the first-ever batsman to achieve that feat in List A matches.

Sooriyavanshi, along with his partner Priyansh Arya who was playing second fiddle, posted India A’s 100 runs in just 39 balls, with his contribution at that stage being 74 runs.

He continued the onslaught and was on his way to a century but unfortunately fell short by six runs, falling victim to skipper and right-arm spinner Sahan Arachchige. His swashbuckling 29-ball knock of 94 included ten boundaries and eight towering sixes, anchoring an opening-wicket stand of 132 runs in only 53 balls.

Arya did not last long as he was dismissed four runs later. However, the third-wicket pair of skipper Tilak Varma and Ruturaj Gaikwad further frustrated the Sri Lanka A bowlers as they began accumulating runs at will. At the halfway stage of the innings, they were sitting pretty on 209 for 2.

The pair added 84 runs for the third wicket before they were separated with the dismissal of Gaikwad. Skipper Varma found another reliable partner in Kumar Kushagra, with whom he put on a stand of 63 runs for the fourth wicket.

Varma was the fifth India A wicket to fall, having made 67 with four boundaries and a six. Later, useful knocks coming from the lower-order batting enabled India A to end their innings with a formidable score of 377 for 9.

Result:

At Dambulla – India A won by 66 runs

India A 377/9 in 50 overs (Vaibhav Sooriyavanshi 94, Tilak Varma 67, Ruturaj Gaikwad 40, Priyansh Arya 39, Anukul Roy 39, Kumar Kushagra 36, Vipraj Nigam 27; Wanuja Sahan 2/39, Ravindu Fernando 2/72, Kugathas Mathulan 2/82)

Sri Lanka A 311 in 47 overs (Wanuja Sahan 62, Sadeera Samarawickrama 52, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth 39, Sahan Arachchige 38, Niroshan Dickwella 25, Nuwanidu Fernando 21, Mohamed Shiraz 21; Yash Thakur 3/45, Vipraj Nigam 3/60)