India A faced an unfortunate loss against Sri Lanka A in a thrilling tri-series encounter on Monday, June 15. Despite showing fighting spirit from a difficult position through a superb knock from Suryansh Shedge and taking the game into a Super Over after a thrilling tie, the Tilak Varma-led side failed to cross the finish line as Sri Lanka emerged victorious in the nail-biting game.
Suryansh Shedge saves India A
Winning the toss, Sri Lanka A skipper Sahan Arachchige opted to bowl first against the Tilak Varma-led side. For a major part of the first innings, Sri Lanka A bowlers executed their plans absolutely well against the Indian batters. India A's opening duo of Prabhsimran Singh and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi failed to give a solid start, as they lost their wickets on cheap scores of 11 off 13 and 21 off 14 respectively.
India's star performer in the tri-series, Ruturaj Gaikwad came to bat at No. 3. Despite getting a decent start, the right handed batter lost his wicket after scoring a well-made 37 off 42 off V Viyaskanth's bowling. Skipper Tilak Varma tried to control the innings with his 23 off 32, hitting three boundaries before losing his wicket to Kugathas Mathulan.
Towards the end, rising all-rounder Suryansh Shedge and spinner Vipraj Nigam stitched a wonderful partnership to help India A reach a competitive target. Shedge played a wonderful knock of 72 off 66, smashing three boundaries and two sixes. Meanwhile, Vipraj also scored a half-century off 49 balls before getting run out on 51. Somehow, India A got bundled out on 265 runs in 49.2 overs.
Thriller in the second innings
In response, Sri Lanka got off to a decent start with openers Niroshan Dickwella and Avishka Fernando scoring 37 off 33 and 22 off 14 respectively. Star middle order batter Sadeera Samarawickrama played a sensational knock of 93 runs off 113 balls, hitting seven fours.
Other than Sadeera, there were some valuable contributions from Wanuja Sahanm, who scored 25 off 41 and Chamika Gunasekara, who got out on 18 off 25. In the last over, Sri Lanka needed five runs to secure the win, but a brilliant performance by Arshad Khan led India A tie the fixture but to determine the result of the game super over was played between the two sides.
At first, Sri Lanka A's Avishka Fernando and Sahan Arachchige came out to bat, as they managed to amass 18 runs. In response, India A's Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Suryansh Shedge came out to bat, but could not manage to seal the game, as India A lost emerged as losers in the clash.