Prabhsimran, Gaikwad, Tilak score fifties in DLS loss to Afghanistan A

Afghanistan A 177 for 2 (Imran 75*, Bahir 51*) beat India A 349 for 9 (Prabhsimran 84, Gaikwad 66, Tilak 66) by 4 runs (DLS method)

After a close-fought win against Sri Lanka A, India A continued their tri-series campaign with a defeat to Afghanistan A in a rain-hit match in Dambulla. Prabhsimran Singh, Ruturaj Gaikwad and captain Tilak Varma all hit half-centuries to take India A to a big total, but Afghanistan A’s batters did enough to help them edge the game on DLS.

Sooryavanshi impresses again

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi put on a more impactful display against Afghanistan A. He lay down the marker early, cutting the first two balls he faced through cover point for fours. He predominantly targeted the off side, driving or slashing anything offering width, finding the cover and point boundaries with ease, helping India A reach 50 in 4.5 overs.

Prabhsimran leads the way

At the other end, Prabhsimran also started well, even if he wasn’t quite as explosive as his 15-year-old opening partner. He drove fuller balls through the covers and when the bowlers pulled their lengths back, he was happy to walk down the track and put away some punchy square drives. He brought up a 39-ball half-century in the 14th over, driving left-arm wristspinner Zahir Khan straight of mid-off to get to the milestone.

Gaikwad and Tilak control the middle overs

Gaikwad, fresh off a century against Sri Lanka A, started off from where he left off, meeting his first ball with a glorious back-foot cover drive. That was his only boundary during his partnership with Prabhsimran, and he was happy to go at around a run a ball while Prabhsimran did the heavy lifting. Once Prabhsimran fell, Gaikwad was joined by Tilak, and the two kept the scoreboard ticking mainly through singles and doubles, in the effort to ensure India A had the platform for a big finish.

India A’s bowlers struggle for penetration

Afghanistan A openers Hassan Eisakhil and Imran started off quickly, with Eisakhil the initial aggressor. India A’s new-ball bowlers Anshul Kamboj and Arshad Khan failed to threaten, until Arshad drew a top edge from Eisakhil with a bouncer in the eighth over, and later in the same over had the Afghanistan opener pulling another short ball to deep square leg. Among the spinners, Roy looked the most dangerous, trapping Khalid Taniwal lbw with an arm ball, but Vipraj Nigam and Ayush Badoni were mostly ineffectual.

Rain and bad light eventually stopped play at 5.28pm, with Afghanistan A four runs ahead on DLS.