Dambulla, June 17. After the defeat in a thrilling super-over match against Sri Lanka A on Monday, India A made a spectacular comeback in a ‘do or die’ situation here on Wednesday and after the batting prowess led by captain Tilak Verma, a brilliant performance by the bowlers secured a ticket to the final of the tri-series with a huge 101-run win over Afghanistan A.
With the fifties of Tilak, Priyansh and Kushagra, India crossed 300.
Opting to bat first at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium, India A scored a huge score of 319 runs for nine wickets in 50 overs with half-centuries from Tilak Verma (59 runs, 75 balls, five fours), opener Priyansh Arya (58 runs, 42 balls, one six, nine fours) and wicketkeeper Kumar Kushagra (58 runs, 67 balls, five fours).
Innings Break!
India A put up a strong total of 3⃣1⃣9⃣/9 courtesy of half-centuries from Priyansh Arya, Kumar Kushagra, and Captain Tilak Varma
Over to the bowlers!
Updates
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— BCCI (@BCCI) June 17, 2026
Nishant Sindhu and company bowled out Afghanistan A for 218 runs.
Chasing a tough target, India A needed to restrict Afghanistan A to 236 or less runs and in front of other bowlers including left-arm spinner Nishant Sindhu (4-31) and pacer Yash Thakur (2-48), the opposition team was limited to 218 runs in 36.5 overs.
India A on top with better net runs from second win
India A team played all four matches and not only collected four points from two wins but also achieved the top position with a net run rate of 0.597. Sri Lanka A have four points from three matches and are placed second with a NRR of 0.494 while Afghanistan A are placed third with two points from one win from three matches. Now the second finalist will be decided by the last league match to be played between Sri Lanka A and Afghanistan A on June 19. The final will be played on this ground on June 21.
Bahir’s fifty, partnership of 87 runs with Faizal
Talking about the match, the Afghan team, chasing a tough target, was in a good position at one time by scoring 157 runs for three wickets in the 25th over due to the attractive innings of half-centuries Bahir Shah (57 runs, 52 balls, one six, four fours), Faizal Shinozada (46 runs, 56 balls, one six, two fours) and the innings opener captain Imran Mir (32 runs, 27 balls, four fours). It seemed. In this sequence, there was a strong partnership of 87 runs on the fourth wicket between Shah and Faizal.
The last 7 batsmen returned with an increase of 61 runs.
But when Faizal was caught by Anukul Roy on his own ball, the Indian bowlers became dominant. Ultimately the last seven batsmen returned with a lead of 61 runs. Apart from Sindhu and Yash, Anshul Kamboj, Anukul, Vipraj Nigam and Suryansh Shedge shared four wickets among themselves.
A brisk start at the top
Priyansh Arya’s 5⃣8⃣(42) and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s 3⃣8⃣(28) set the foundation for India A.
129/3 after 18 overs.
Updates
https://t.co/Kg9IWt7M5b#TriNationSeries | #INDAvAFGA pic.twitter.com/s3tb8DYiDI
— BCCI (@BCCI) June 17, 2026
Vaibhav and Priyansh scored 75 runs in 48 balls.
Before this, Priyansh and Vaibhav Suryavanshi (38 runs, 28 balls, two sixes, four fours) gave a fast start to India A. However, during the partnership of 75 runs in 48 balls, the explosive Vaibhav gave almost three chances and ultimately became the victim of Faridoon Dawoodzai (2-74) in the eighth over.
104 run partnership between Tilak Kushagra
Apart from Vaibhav and Priyansh, Rituraj Gaikwad (30 runs, 31 balls, four fours) also showed sharp hands while Tilak and Kushagra made a century partnership of 104 runs in 122 balls for the fourth wicket between their half-centuries.
score card
In the end, Vipraj Nigam (30 runs, 20 balls, four fours) and Nishant Sindhu (21 not out, 26 balls) also took the lead and the team reached close to 320 runs. Apart from Dawoodzai, Abdullah Ahmadzai and Farmanullah took two wickets each after spending 62 runs.
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