Sri Lanka A have levelled the ODI series against India A 1-1 after completing a comprehensive 69-run victory at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium on Tuesday. The chief architects of the Sri Lanka A victory were the left-handed batsmen Avishka Gunawardene (111) and Naveed Nawaz (120).
After the first two matches of the five-match series had been washed out, India A had won the third match yesterday at the same venue by two wickets. Today's performance by the home team sets up an interesting do-or-die final clash on Thursday.
Earlier in the day, Hrishikesh Kanitkar won the toss for India A and sent the home team in to bat first. On a track full of runs, Sri Lanka A lost Test discard Romesh Kaluwitharana (8), caught behind by Parthiv Patel off a nippy Lakshmipathy Balaji.
What followed was a deluge of runs; a partnership of 233 runs off just 38.1 overs between Gunawardene and Nawaz. Gunwardene struck ten boundaries and a six in his blistering knock of 111, facing just 121 balls. Gunawardene was cleaned up by Jai P Yadav with the Sri Lanka A total on 251.
Five runs later, Nawaz was tragically run out after making a whirlwind knock of 120 (125 balls), which included 14 fours and a six. There were useful contributions late in the order from Chamara Silva (29 off 15 balls) and Jehan Mubarak (25* off 20 balls). Sri Lanka A finished with 321/4 in their 50 overs. Jai P Yadav picked up a couple of wickets, but was too expensive – going for 72 runs off nine overs.
India A looked to be cruising towards victory, scoring at around six runs an over. Akash Chopra and young Parthiv Patel added 131 runs for the first wicket in just 22.2 overs. But then they lost four quick wickets in the space of seven overs to slump to 155/4. Kaushal Lokuarachchi struck a double blow, removing Patel (71 off 66 balls) and Gautam Gambhir (3) in consecutive overs. Kanitkar (1) and Chopra (70 off 85 balls) too fell in quick succession, leaving the task of rebuilding the innings to Rohan Gavaskar and Jai P Yadav.
Chasing such a huge score, and with crucial wickets down, India A were never in a position to launch an assault. Yadav made 22 off 15 balls and the rest of the tail just wilted away. Gavaskar batted on to compile a half century (53* off 65 balls), as India A were bowled out for 252 runs. Tillakaratne Dilshan, bowling off-breaks, finished with the figures of 8.2-0-40-3.
© CricInfo Ltd.
| Teams | India, Sri Lanka. |
| Tours | India 'A' in Sri Lanka |
| Grounds | Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium |
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