Afghanistan A cruise past India A by DLS in rain-hit tri-series clash
Dambulla, June 11
India A's imposing total of 349 proved insufficient as Afghanistan A pulled off a stunning DLS victory in a rain-affected tri-series clash in Dambulla on Thursday, powered by a blazing opening partnership and authoritative knocks from captain Imran Mir and Bahir Shah.
Put in to bat first, India A overcame the conditions through an explosive start from Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who struck 44 off just 22 deliveries to set the tone after Afghanistan opted to field.
Prabhsimran Singh carried the momentum forward with an attacking innings before missing out on a century, keeping India A in a strong position despite the early dismissal of Priyansh Arya.
The innings was then steadied by Ruturaj Gaikwad and Tilak Varma, who added 78 runs in a composed stand built on largely risk-free cricket, striking just eight boundaries between them to keep India A's momentum intact.
Gaikwad, fresh off a century in the previous game, scored a fluent 66 off 80 deliveries, while skipper Tilak contributed 66 off 73 balls.
India A accelerated in the closing stages through Suryansh Shedge's quickfire 40 off 27 balls. Handy contributions from Anukul Roy and Vipraj Nigam further boosted the total as India surged past the 300-run mark to post a commanding 349 for 9 in their revised 49-over innings.
Afghanistan A's Abdullah Ahmadzai was the standout bowler, claiming a five-wicket haul and striking at crucial intervals in the death overs to prevent India A from finishing with an even bigger total.
Chasing a revised target of 294 in 38 overs after further rain interruptions, Afghanistan A began aggressively. Hassan Eisakhil scored 34 and shared a rapid 63-run opening stand with captain Imran Mir, as the chase raced along at nearly eight runs an over in the Powerplay.
Although Arshad Khan and Anukul Roy struck back by removing Eisakhil and Khalid Taniwal respectively, India A were unable to sustain pressure through the middle overs.
Imran Mir then anchored the innings with a composed yet positive knock, reaching 75 off 69 deliveries, while Bahir Shah counterattacked fluently to bring up a half-century. The duo stitched together a century-plus partnership for the third wicket, steadily taking Afghanistan A ahead of the DLS par score.
With dark clouds gathering once again, Afghanistan reached 173 for 2 in 25.5 overs when heavy rain forced the players off the field.
At that stage, they were three runs ahead of the DLS target, and with conditions preventing any further play, Afghanistan were declared winners by the DLS method.
— ANI
Reader Comments
Credit where it's due - Afghanistan A played fearlessly. Their batting approach was refreshing, especially after losing early wickets. That partnership between Imran and Bahir was classy. Indian bowling looked a bit one-dimensional today. But hey, it's just a tri-series warm-up, plenty of time to fix things. 🇮🇳
Honestly, I'm more concerned about our middle-order bowling than the DLS defeat. Afghanistan's openers took the game away in the powerplay, and we didn't have a plan B. The spinners couldn't build pressure. Good learning for the team management though - need to work on death bowling and field placements.
Amazing batting display from both sides! Sooryavanshi and Prabhsimran gave us a flying start, Gaikwad and Tilak anchored well, and Shedge finished nicely. But Afghanistan's chase was something else - 8 runs per over in powerplay! That's the intent we need to see more often. DLS made it close, but they deserved the win. 👏
Not our day, but I'm proud of how the batters put up 349 despite losing early wickets. Gaikwad and Tilak played sensible cricket, which is reassuring for India's future. However, I feel we missed a trick by not giving enough overs to our fifth bowler. Arshad Khan went for runs, and the others couldn't pick wickets when needed. Onwards and upwards!
Tough break for India A with the rain, but Afghanistan A were clearly the better team in the chase.
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