India A 319 for 9 (Tilak 59, Kushagra 58, Arya 58, Farmanullah 2-62, Ahmadzai 2-62) beat Afghanistan A 218 (Bahir Shah 57, Sindhu 4-31, Thakur 2-48) by 101 runs

After being at the wrong end of a tense Super-Over finish against Sri Lanka A on Monday, India A bounced back spectacularly against Afghanistan A in a must-win game on Wednesday and secured their place in the tri-series final. Needing a win for a spot in the final, India A bowled out Afghanistan for 218 in 36.5 overs.

India A's batters didn't go as big as their seniors did in Lucknow, but half-centuries from Tilak Varma, Priyansh Arya and Kumar Kushagra carried them to a competitive 319 for 9 on a Dambulla pitch that offered substantial turn and bounce. India A's spinners, led by Nishant Sindhu, who finished with 4 for 31, used the assistance to their advantage, stopping Afghanistan A 102 runs short of their target.

From 157 for 3 in the 25th over, Afghanistan crashed to 218 all out with just over 13 overs unused in their innings.

Sooryavanshi's chancy innings

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was especially nervy in the early exchanges after Afghanistan A had asked India A to bat first in Dambulla. He was beaten first ball, with left-arm seamer Faridoon Dawoodzai landing one on a Test-match length from over the wicket and getting it to veer away past the outside edge. In the second over, Afghanistan A captain Imran Mir matched up his offspinner Shams Ur Rahman with the left-handed Sooryavanshi and created a chance.

Sooryavanshi threw his bat at an offbreak that turned and bounce outside off and ended up carving it in the air. The point fielder dived to his left, stretched out his left hand, and claimed a one-handed catch. However, the TV umpire Prageeth Rambukwella deemed it not out after one frame suggested that the ball may have touched the ground before the fielder had grabbed the ball. Sooryavanshi got another life in the third over when Dawoodzai dug in a lifter at the ribs and drew a weak hook, but short fine leg dropped the catch this time. Sooryavanshi was on 7 at this point.

He added 31 to his tally before he was eventually bounced out by Dawoodzai, with Khalid Taniwal holding onto the ball at point, in the eighth over. Sooryavanshi was responsible for two of the three sixes India had hit through their innings.

He first swung Abdollah Ahmadzai over backward square in the sixth over and then two overs later, he smote Dawoodzai over mid-on for six and sent the ball disappearing out of the ground. Dawoodzai, though, had the final say in the contest and celebrated Sooryavanshi's wicket with a finger-on-the-lip celebration.

Arya and Kushagra check in

Replacing his IPL team-mate Prabhsimran Singh, Arya was more fluent than Sooryavanshi and he set to work with a punchy drive off Dawoodzai in the opening over. The Afghanistan A bowlers fed his strengths by regularly offering him width outside off. He raced to his half-century off 34 balls and just when he looked good for more, Farhamnullah had him slicing a catch to point in the 15th over. By the time Arya was dismissed, he had scored 58 off India A's 115.

Kushagra, who was playing his first game in this tri-series, then combined well with his captain Tilak to rebuild India A's innings. Despite playing just a solitary game for Gujarat Titans (GT) in IPL 2026, Kushagra hit the ground running on Wednesday, playing some wristy drives and full-blooded sweeps on the way to his own half-century. He also dared to use his feet against the left-arm wristspin of Zahir Khan. However, when he advanced down the track to left-arm seamer Dawoodzai, he was bowled for 58 off 67 balls.

Tilak's middle-order gears

Tilak was slow off the blocks - he was on eight off 15 balls - at one point but shifted up the gears to raise a half-century off 67 balls. It was his third fifty in four innings in this tri-series. After seamer Abdollah Ahmadzai had Ruturaj Gaikwad caught by the keeper down the leg side for 30 off 31 balls in the 18th over, Tilak dug in and controlled the middle overs for India A along with Kushagra in a 104-run partnership for the fourth wicket.

Tilak was busy against spin in the middle overs, knocking Zahir, Shams Ur Rahman and captain Imran Mir into the gaps. India A slowed down after Tilak's dismissal, but cameos from Sindhu and Vipraj Nigam took them closer to 320.

Spin to win

Sindhu certainly wasn't done yet. After seamers Yash Thakur and Anshul Kamboj snared the Afghanistan openers, Nishant Sindhu fronted up to bowl the final over of the powerplay and struck, having Imran holing out on the slog-sweep for 32 off 27 balls.

Bahir Shah, a compact batter who averages almost 55 in first-class cricket, and Faisal Shinozaza then seriously challenged India A's attack with an 87-run stand for the fourth wicket off 76 balls. It was Anukul Roy, the other left-arm spin-bowling allrounder who gave India an opening by having Shinozaza spooning a return catch for 46.

Bahir progressed to his fifty, but Nigam cut his innings short on 57 off 52 balls with a tossed-up legbreak. Nigam also troubled the Afghanistan A batters with his wrong'un.

Sindhu then returned with the older ball to scythe through the tail. India A's spinners shared the spoils and sealed an NRR-boosting win, which left Afghanistan A's chances of making the final in jeopardy.